The Missing Link
by revester
Summary: Ever stop and think that Simon and River Tam seem too smart for their own good? So did I. Here's my answer. Firefly/Doctor Who crossover. Spoilers for BDM in Firefly and Season 4 and EOT references in DW.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Spoilers are as follows in Firefly: this story takes place a few months after the BDM. Inara has stayed on the ship. The first and second chapters will be happening at the same time. Chapter 1 is the Firefly side and Chapter 2 is the Doctor Who side. The rest will be the combining of the two. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Strangers in the Alley

Captain Mal Reynolds was sitting at the kitchen table having a drink. This last job went pretty well. Almost too well, if you asked him. They were waved by Sir Warwick Harrow about a week ago. He had more cargo that he wanted to sell off planet. Since the crew of _Serenity_ successfully managed to do this job before, he was more than happy to deal directly with them. Luckily for his ship, this cargo was more of the boxed variety and less of the cow variety. Everything went off without a hitch. Maybe that was why he was so anxious. His plans never go smooth.

"Everything alright, sir?" Zoe asked as she came striding through. It had been a few months since Wash had died. Zoe was still not the same, not that anyone but her expected her to be. Mal hadn't realized how good Wash was for her until he was gone. He straightened up and smiled at her.

"Indeed it is, Zoe. Job's done. Just have to get back to Persephone and get paid."

"You ain't worried that Badger might have something to say about us getting this job without his assistance?" Zoe poured herself some of Kaylee's wine and sat down across from him.

"No. We get plenty of jobs without having to deal with that _chănmèi de yòu_. Besides, I'm all for celebrating the fact that there are no casualties and only one minor injury." Mal held up his glass. Zoe held hers up and clinked his.

"I'll drink to that."

~`~`~`~ Change in scene ~`~`~`~

Simon was currently in the infirmary, tending to his less than amused patient with her minor injury.

"Ow! Simon, that really hurts!" Kaylee wrenched her hand away from Simon, who was applying ointment to her palm. She burned it on the engine.

"Kaylee, it's not going to heal as well if I don't put this on it. I know it hurts, but it will help. Trust me, _bao bei_." He tenderly ran his hand over her cheek. Kaylee smiled and held out her hand again.

"Well, can't have you thinking I don't trust you, can I?" She winced while he applied the rest of the ointment and wrapped her hand up in a bandage.

"There. All better." He kissed her hand and sat down next to her on the infirmary bed. Kaylee smiled and put her head on his shoulder. Simon rubbed her head and put his hand in his vest pocket, holding his pocket watch. Kaylee put her hand on his wrist.

"Simon, I always see you with your hand in your pocket. What'cha keepin' in there?" She smiled at him. He smiled back and took out the watch. After giving it a fond look, he put it in her outstretched hands.

"It was my father's." Kaylee gave it a onceover and frowned. The button to open it was stuck.

"It's broke. It won't open." Simon gave her a small smile before answering her unasked question.

"I know. After I made it clear that I wasn't going to quit looking for River to keep my family's good name, my parents kicked me out of the house. My father threw it against the wall as I left. When I look at it, it gives me hope. I can fix the watch, but not until I fix River. Once she's fixed, maybe we can fix our family the way I can fix the watch. I dunno. Hearing it out loud makes me sound-"

"-like a good man that got a _fei hua_ deal in life. If that's the last thing your father gave you, it don't matter that it's broke. It's still special. Look." She pulled a rusty, bent screw out of the inside pocket of her jumpsuit and handed it to Simon. He took a glance at it and looked back at her.

"This is the screw that I used on the first job I ever did with my daddy back at his shop. I thought I was the bee's knees because he let me work on a customer's engine. We removed this screw from the grav boot. I keep it with me to remind me of that day. Just like you keep that to remind you that River and your family could someday be fixed. What?" Simon was staring at her and gaping.

"Nothing, it's just…I never thought anyone would understand why I would keep something my father threw at me when he kicked me out of my home." Kaylee traced the circular patterns on the face before handing it back to Simon.

"I've never seen a pattern like this before. Where did he get it? It's shiny." Simon traced the pattern as well.

"You know, I'm not sure. Hm, maybe someday we'll see another one." He laughed and kissed her.

"Another what?" She giggled as she fell back on the bed. Simon, being the clever doctor, followed her lead.

~`~`~`~ Change in scene ~`~`~`~

After their drink, Mal and Zoe made their way up to the bridge to see their pilot. River took to piloting _Serenity_ like a duck to water. Granted, she took to everything she touched like a duck to water. Even though she spent most of her time in the bridge nowadays, nothing had changed. Instead of adding her own personal touches, she kept Wash's dinosaurs on the console and watched them. She didn't ever touch them.

"How goes things, lil' Albatross?" Mal walked up and put his hands on her shoulders. River looked up at him and smiled.

"We will be landing on Persephone in about 10, Captain. Of course that's not accounting for the myriad of things that could go wrong once we hit atmo…."

"There is no need to continue there, little one. How's about you take a break? I'll take over." Mal moved and took a seat at the copilot's console.

"She doesn't need a break. She just needs…" River stopped and stared off into space.

"You alright, River?" Zoe asked. She had stopped at the door, unwilling to go in to what used to be her husband's domain. Her concern for River overruled her unease, seeing as River was flying the ship. Mal took over the piloting while Zoe attempted to get River's attention unsuccessfully.

"River? River! " Zoe snapped her fingers in her face, but River continued to stare off to her right. She got up and grabbed the intercom.

"Sir, should we call the Doc?"

"No need to call my brother. Just fazed out for a moment. Lost in thoughts that aren't always her own. Had to find a way out of the storm. Nothing to worry about." River twitched and looked up at Zoe, a small smile on her face.

"You know, it creeps me out when you get all freaky like that." Mal said to her. River got up, not looking either at either one of them.

"Think I will take that break…." River said as she glided out of the room. Zoe looked at Mal with a look of concern.

"You know what usually happens when she gets like that, Sir."

"Yeah, I do. She saw something. She'll come to us if it's something we need to know. For now, I'm going to concern myself with getting us planet side and getting paid." As Mal said this, Inara walked into the room.

It still amazed Mal to see her in pants. Since Miranda, Inara was suspended for 6 months due to her "manner unbecoming a companion." She started wearing less of the expensive gowns and more of the expensive trousers. Less then two hours after her suspension, she was hired on _Serenity_ as the bookkeeper. Giving her the job was probably one of the best decisions Mal had made since renting her the shuttle. He was never one for keeping track of the money, so he couldn't really tell where it all went. Due to Inara's expert tracking of the expenses and payouts, everyone seemed to have a little more credit to spend and less worries about running out of fuel and the like.

"Did I hear the words 'getting paid'? You still have not given me the figures of the latest job, Captain."

"I told you I will give them to you when we have it in our hands. That way, it's a done deal. Once we hit Persephone and see Sir Harrow, we'll have our money and you'll have your numbers." Inara sighed sarcastically and made her way gracefully out of the room. Zoe followed her out.

"Well, old girl, it's just me and you. Let's get us on the planet in one piece, what do you say?" Mal flipped three switches and made ready to land.

"Simon?" River made her way to the infirmary, where Simon and Kaylee were hurriedly adjusting their hair and clothing. They were laughing together, which made River smile.

"What's up_, mei mei_?" Simon asked.

"I just wanted to tell you…..I'm….." River trailed off, looking off to her left. Both Simon and Kaylee followed her gaze but didn't see anything. Simon moved to her left and put himself in her view.

"River? What's going on?" She snapped back to reality and looked at him with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Don't know. I'm taking a nap. The Captain is going to get us on the planet. It will be a bit shaky, but he will manage to get us there without any fatalities." With that, River walked off to her room, leaving behind two completely confused people.

"What was that about? I thought after…you know…that she was better." Kaylee said. Simon glanced at her for a minute, then resumed his gaze to where his sister went.

"She is better. She's more lucid now that the secret she's been carrying is out, but she is still recovering from what they did at the Academy. Well, she's recovering what she is capable of recovering. What happened at Miranda didn't magically fix her." Kaylee hugged him from behind.

"Do you think she'll ever get better?" Simon turned around and kissed her.

"I hope so."

~`~`~`~ Change in scene ~`~`~`~

Once they landed on Persephone, the crew divided up. Mal, Jayne, and Zoe went over to Sir Harrow's estate to conduct business, while Kaylee, Inara, Simon, and River were left to guard the ship.

"Mal, something about this job don't sit right," Jayne said as they walked out of the estate.

"I know. Everything went too smooth for my liking." Mal replied. Zoe was too busy looking out for a nonexistent assassin to pay attention. Ever since River's lapse of attention, everyone was on edge. Usually she tells someone what she saw. Her tightlipped actions were causing unease.

"Crazy was being crazy again. That only means trouble. I don't like trouble. Especially when I don't know where trouble is coming from, like now."

"Jayne, when I want your opinion on River, I will give it to you. For now, let's just get off this world as quickly as possible and call this a win." The bad feeling in Mal's gut got worse the closer they got to _Serenity_. His fears were confirmed when they got on ship and Inara was the only person on board. She looked shaken, which meant something went down. It took a lot to shake up the resident "Ambassador." Mal ran up and hugged her. He immediately let go once he realized what he had done. After a moment of awkward shuffling around, he spoke.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. River was fine for one moment. The next, she was screaming that a storm was coming for her. She wouldn't stop screaming. She opened the door and ran. Simon and Kaylee went after her. I stayed here so you all would know what happened. Mal, she hasn't screamed like that since…"

"Miranda?" Zoe finished for her. Inara looked at her.

"What? It happened. We all remember it. Y'all don't have to avoid the fact that my husband died. Sir, I can hold down the fort if you and Jayne want to retrieve the rest of the crew."

"Good plan. Let's go, Jayne." Mal turned around and Jayne followed. Inara went to make tea and Zoe quickly made her way back to their…her room. It was only then that she allowed the tears to flow.

It didn't take long for Mal and Jayne to find River, Simon, and Kaylee. They just had to follow the screaming. They followed it through the crowd, who didn't seem perturbed at all that there was someone screaming, until they hit an alleyway.

In the alleyway, River was crouched next to a wall, crying while holding her head. Simon had some man up against the opposite wall. This man was very well dressed, but a bit on the skinny side which was strange for someone with expensive clothing. He must be someone important, which would not bode well for Simon. He was staring at River in a way that sent a chill down Mal's spine. Things were already going poorly for the doc because he was getting hit with a newspaper by some red-headed woman who was screaming at him. Kaylee was arguing with a dark skinned woman who seemed to be trying to make peace and make her way to aid the man, but Kaylee wasn't buying it. She had effectively blocked the woman from getting anywhere near the men. Good for her. These people must be from the Academy. At the least, they were Alliance. Well-dressed man like that? A dead giveaway. Mal got out his gun and heard Jayne do the same behind him.

"Well, well. What seems to be the problem here? Looks to me that you lot are bothering my pilot there. Any problem you have with her, you have with me and my friend here."

*Chinese phrases used (FYI they are from a website, forgive me if they are wrong):

chănmèi de yòu -slimy weasel

mèimei little sister

bao bei sweetheart/darling. Seen both as the translation

Fei hua: Bullshit.

FYI: I do need a beta, so if anyone is interested, let me know :)


	2. Why are There Always Guns?

A/N: Spoilers for Doctor Who are as follows: This story takes place during the episode The Doctor's Daughter. The episode has happened, but they have not dropped Martha off yet. I put a quote from the episode to show where we are. Remember, this chapter takes place at the same time as Chapter 1. The Doctor's history lesson is courtesy of Wikipedia and a slight dash of me.

Chapter 2: Why Are There Always Guns?

_ "Time to go home." The Doctor  
_ "_Yeah, home." Martha  
_ -Doctor Who, The Doctor's Daughter

"Doctor, I thought you were taking me home." Martha said as she fell over.

The TARDIS was smoking badly.

"I was. That paradox on Messaline did a number on the TARDIS. What's wrong?" The Doctor caressed the panel. Donna and Martha looked at each other and rolled their eyes collectively.

"Ok, change of plans. I have to do some repairs. I'll have you home, Martha in about….oh, say…. 3 hours?" Before Martha could reply, the Doctor opened up a railing and jumped down underneath the console.

"Want some tea, then?" Donna asked. Martha looked at her and nodded. They knew the Doctor wanted to be alone. They both walked into the kitchen. Donna put the kettle on and grabbed some mugs while Martha rummaged around, looking for a snack.

"So, how do you think he's handling things?" Martha asked with her head in a cabinet. As much as she loved alien cuisine, she could kill for some normal, everyday Earth biscuits.

"Well, it's obvious that he's not. He won't want to talk about it though. He never does. The only thing he'll want to do is to go somewhere else so he can push this experience as far away as possible." Donna said as she poured the water into the mugs. Sometimes alien technology was the best. No more waiting for the water to boil.

"Right. It's not healthy. He's over 900 years old. He should know by now that bottling everything up isn't good. He has to talk to someone." They both grabbed their mugs and walked over to the table. Martha set down the biscuits she found and they sat down.

"I feel bad for leaving now. He needs some support and having me cut out right after something devastating is starting to become a trend that I don't like." Martha traced the rim of her mug as she grabbed a biscuit.

"What do you mean? What happened before?"

"He never told you?"

"Does he ever say anything important?" Donna rolled her eyes and Martha laughed.

"There was another Time Lord. He was destroying the human race and the Doctor stopped him. Then he was shot. He died in the Doctor's arms, as he was begging him to regenerate. He cried, Donna. I've never seen him break down like that. Ever. It was terrifying because I didn't know what to do."

"And then you cut out?"

"Not then, no. I stayed for about a week. We stayed on Earth. My family needed me. I knew he needed me too, but I couldn't put myself together quick enough to help put him back together. Plus, there was that whole heartbreaking crush thing going on as well…" Martha trailed off as she took another sip. The two women were silent for a moment.

"Did you know that he had children before?" Donna asked. Martha looked up quickly and shook her head.

"He told me that after I accused him of dad-shock. I think that this whole thing with Jenny will bring all of that back to the surface if it hasn't already. Not that he really said anything about it. He mentioned it in passing."

"Maybe we should do something more lighthearted before he takes me home." Martha grabbed another biscuit.

"Why?"

"Well, then we will have a happy memory to fall back on before I go back. Maybe then he won't think that he's chased me off again. He gave me that look he gave me when I said I was leaving the first time. It was like I was abandoning him in his time of need. This way, it's a good memory, and we part ways on a positive note. Does that make any sense?" Martha held her mug in two hands and looked up at Donna, whose mouth was hanging open.

"That makes perfect sense. Except for one thing."

"What's that?"

"How can we be sure that wherever we go won't have trouble?"

"Oh, yeah….this is the Doctor we are talking about."

~`~`~`~Three hours later…~`~`~`~

After watching a movie, Donna and Martha made their way back into the console room. The Doctor was sitting on the jump seat staring into space.

"Doctor?" He looked up at them with his mega-watt smile that didn't reach his eyes and jumped out of the seat.

"Right, then! Off to take Martha home!" He started to pilot the TARDIS when Martha grabbed his arm. He looked over at her.

"I was thinking. Can we go somewhere else first? Somewhere fun?"

"Somewhere like where?" The Doctor asked.

"I dunno. You're the expert, Spaceman." Donna said, smacking him on the back of the head. The Doctor yelped and rubbed the back of his head, even though it didn't really hurt.

"Ok, then. Let's go on a shopping trip on the planet Persephone. Throw out two numbers each."

"What? No random settings?" Martha giggled.

"Nope. This way, I can pick which numbers will be safest. No problems. Well, I say no problems; I mean no problems I can foresee. I could go for a boring old shopping trip." The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and broke eye contact with them as he turned around.

"Well, then. I chose 5 and 8." Donna said.

"Ok. Martha?"

"Um, 1 and 2." The Doctor stared at nothing for a moment whilst considering which date to pick. 5281? No, there was a war on Persephone. 8512? No, alien invasion. Granted anything before 2000, Persephone was basically uninhabited….hmm…..

He knew what they were trying to do. Losing Jenny was hard, but it was nothing compared to what had happened to his real children that were on Gallifrey when it burned. Yes, Jenny had come from him but it wasn't the same. Hearing his entire species scream in his head as they died was seared into his memory just like the burning silence that he's had since then. He needed the distraction from the holes in his hearts and head that Jenny's death put back into his focus. The holes that would never heal no matter what his human friends thought. Talking about it to anyone just made it hurt more. If they knew what he had lost, then the holes would be visible and he wouldn't be able to fix himself as best he could.

"Right then. 2518, here we come. Roughly about 500 years in your future. Persephone is known for the flea market feel around the docks. How does that sound?" He didn't wait for them to answer as he put the coordinates in the TARDIS.

"It sounds perfect." Martha said.

"Flea market? Why can't we ever go someplace nice?" Donna groaned.

~`~`~`~TARDIS materializing :) ~`~`~`~

Persephone was exactly what they all needed, even if it wasn't as posh as Donna would've liked. It wasn't too flashy or too dirty. There were a lot of people around, but nobody causing any problems other than some pick-pocketing. After stopping at a cash point for some money (gotta love the sonic screwdriver), they made their way to the E Docks, as the Doctor called them, and were astounded by all the people selling stuff.

"Why is it mostly American and Asian stuff?" Donna asked as she picked up a scarf. After noticing the price, she put it back down to the shopkeeper's dismay.

"Well, these settlers all originate from Earth. America and China were the first to get off planet in 2350. They tend to have the biggest influences out here in what they all affectionately call 'The Verse.' We are about 3 solar systems away from Earth. Far enough away for them to forget where the Earth actually is. Don't worry though; they will find it again in about a hundred years or so. Don't be surprised if you hear some Mandarin here. It's usually used in swear words, so the TARDIS doesn't translate it in this time period." The Doctor picked up a trinket and gave it a good onceover before putting it back down.

"They don't know where the Earth is?" Martha asked.

"Nope. Nobody alive at this point, present company excluded, has ever seen the Earth. They all call it 'Earth-that-Was.' Earth is a very mystical place at this time."

"Where are all the aliens then?" Donna asked. The Doctor looked at her and grabbed his right ear.

"Well, the humans took up this part of the universe. There was an incident on Earth before they left. Most of the aliens kind of avoid this part of the universe. Oh, look! Food! Are you ladies…" The Doctor trailed off and looked over to his left. Donna and Martha followed his gaze, but didn't see anything.

"Doctor? What is it?" Donna put her hand on his arm. He turned and looked at her.

"I don't know. Oh well, let's eat. Allons-y!" He led the women over to the food. "I am NOT eating food where the sign says 'Good Dogs,' Spaceman. You better pick something else." Donna said to him. The Doctor didn't pay any attention. Again, he was staring off to the left. Donna and Martha exchanged worried looks. All of a sudden, the Doctor took off in the direction he was staring at. Martha and Donna tried to keep up, but they couldn't because he was going too quickly.

They followed him until he stopped in an alleyway. There was a teenage girl cowering in a corner, holding her head and crying.

"It's too much, too much. The storm's come for me. _Runtse de shang dee, ching daiwuhtzo_. Make it stop. They're screaming in my head; they are all burning. Simon!" She started screaming. Martha and Donna looked around to see who was harming her and their gaze fell on the Doctor. His face was like stone and he was staring at her. It was very intimidating.

"Little girl, what did you think you were doing, trying to get inside my head? Did you think that I wouldn't be able to protect myself? What exactly are you?" He moved closer to her and she pressed herself closer to the wall.

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Martha grabbed his arm and stood in front of him. "She's a teenage girl. She hasn't done anything to you. We should help her."

"No, she's not just a teenage girl. She's too powerful to be just a teenage girl. Her abilities far exceed a human teenage girl. She tried to get into my head and I don't like that. Not at all," he growled. "Let me pass." Martha had no idea what was going on, but she trusted him and so moved out of the way.

Before the Doctor could get any closer to the crying girl, some young man in a vest came crashing through and shoved the Doctor into the wall.

"What in the name of _Suo-yo duh doh dhr-dang_ is going on here? What did you do to my sister?" He snarled at the Doctor. The Doctor looked at him and seemed to calm down a bit.

"Your sister…" he muttered.

"Oi, take your slimy hands off my friend!" Donna yelled and grabbed the nearest blunt object around, a rolled up newspaper. She proceeded to beat the young man with it in an attempt to get him to let go.

"Not until he tells me what he is doing to my little sister and stops."

Martha watched the spectacle. What she didn't understand was why the Doctor allowed the man to hold him up against the wall. He was stronger than a human and could easily brush him off. She turned to see about the girl, when a woman in a flight suit ran up.

"What's going on here? Simon, why've you got that man against the wall?" She addressed the man holding the Doctor. Donna stopped beating him and turned around, hearing the new voice.

"He's doing something to River. Look at her, Kaylee!" River was muttering to herself while crying and pulling her hair. Every once in a while, she would look at the Doctor as though she expected a physical attack.

"Ok, maybe we should all just calm down." Martha said, holding her arms up in a non-threatening manner that was totally useless when Donna hit Simon with the newspaper again just for good measure. It started to look like everything was going ok until the Doctor looked at River again. Then the screaming started and Simon shoved him back harder against the wall.

"_Wuoshang mayer, maysheen, byen shr-to_" she cried out, staring out at the Doctor. The Doctor just looked at her coldly before replying.

"_Bùyào__chéngnuò__n__ǐ__ bùnéng__értóng__!_"

After that, Martha and this Kaylee woman watched as River continued to scream, and the other two struggled. Martha attempted to diffuse, but Kaylee would have nothing to do with her. The only thing she seemed intent on doing was to keep Martha from going near the others. Just when Martha thought she could get past her, she heard the ominous clicking of two guns behind her.

"Well, well. What seems to be the problem here? Seems to me that you lot are bothering my pilot there. Any problem you have with her, you have with me and my friend here."

~`~`~`~ End chapter 2 ~`~`~`~

Chinese terms used (most likely incorrectly):

_Runtse de shang dee, ching daiwuhtzo_ – Merciful God, please take me away

_Suo-yo duh doh dhr-dang_ – All that's proper

_Wuoshang mayer, maysheen, byen shr-to_ – I will close my ears and my heart and I will be as a stone

Bùyào chéngnuò nǐ bùnéng értóng! – Do not make promises you cannot keep, child!


	3. Introductions and a New New Job

A/N: Sorry about the delay in updating. I've had a bit of writer's block on Chapter 7. I'm going to attempt to do a weekly update. There are 10 chapters planned. It may be 11 or so, but I'm not sure. I'm hoping that I can avoid any more delays by writing ahead. Now that all characters are in the same place, I'm going to use all of their names. So far, the only people the Doctor knows are Kaylee, Simon, and River. Nobody knows who the Doctor's crew is, to ease any confusion. Details about the firefly ship were found on Wikipedia.

Chapter 3: Introductions and a New New Job

_"Well, well. What seems to be the problem here? Seems to me that you lot are bothering my pilot there. Any problem you have with her, you have with me and my friend here."_

Martha put her hands in the air slowly. Donna just folded her hands across her chest and frowned at the newcomers. The Doctor was still up against the wall, so he did nothing.

"Now, darlin', why don't you turn around so's we can see you. Slowly now, else Jayne here might get twitchy with the trigger." Mal said. Martha slowly turned around.

"Look, there is no problem here. This is a misunderstanding. If your friend will just let go of our friend, we will just go our merry way." Martha said.

"Like hell we will! I want to know how River here got to be the way she is." The Doctor looked over at River, who had managed to get herself over to Mal. She hid behind him, still shaking.

"And I want to know what it is you did to her. She's just a kid and you had her screaming without even touching her!" Simon yelled. They glared at each other before Simon let him go. If anyone was surprised that the Doctor didn't fall to the ground like any normal human, they didn't say.

"Doctor, maybe we should just go," Donna said. She put her hand on the Doctor, who started and looked at her.

"No."

"No? Jayne, did this 'Doctor' just say no to a mighty fine idea?" Mal turned to look at Jayne, who looked confused. He was too busy checking out the new females.

"_Shumma_?"

"Jayne, just agree with me here. That's your job."

"I thought my job was to shoot who you need me to shoot."

River silently moved to where Simon was. She looked up at the Doctor, who warily looked back at her. She smiled slowly and turned to Simon.

"It's ok, Simon." Simon looked at her incredulously.

"River, you were screaming…"

"He didn't understand that I couldn't control it. The storm rages when provoked. All he hears is silence. Hearing something else only to be prodded caused him to attack me." She twirled around to Mal, who was still arguing with Jayne about his job.

"Mal, captain. Jayne, hired gun. It's not that hard. Sheesh," she said as she walked back to the ship. Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.

"We should probably go back to the ship. And you?" He pointed to the Doctor.

"Yes?"

"_Zhu tamin ya min zhu yi._" Simon stalked off. Mal and Jayne followed, making sure that they were not followed.

"Doctor, what the hell was that about?" Martha asked as she dusted the Doctor's suit off. He shrugged her off and moved to the corner of the alley.

"We need to follow them."

"Excuse me? We get guns shoved in our faces and live to tell the tale. Instead of praising our good luck, you want to follow them? Dunce."

"Why don't you tell us what happened here because I don't get it. You stared off into nothing and stalked that poor girl into this alley."

"That girl, River. I can sense her." The Doctor said as he stared off to the direction the crew left.

"What do you mean 'sense her'? Is this some weird Martian thing?" Donna asked.

"No! Well, kind of. My species were all connected together telepathically. We could always sense each other. It's not the same. I don't sense her as one of my people, but I can sense her on a different level. I'm not sure what it is, but I need to figure it out. Therefore, we follow. Maybe we'll be lucky and their ship takes passengers. Allons-y!" The Doctor said as he went off in the direction of the crew.

"What do you think about this?" Martha asked Donna as they followed at a more leisurely pace. She eyed the Doctor's back.

"I don't rightly know. He might be grasping onto this girl because of Jenny, but I don't understand this mind sense thing he is talking about. Of course, he can't go into detail about it." Donna twirled her hair around her finger.

"Yeah, I think so too. But what else can we do but to let him figure all this out?"

~`~`~`~ Scene Change ~`~`~`~

"Mal?"

"I know. We're being followed." Mal picked up the communicator. "Zoe?"

"Yes, sir?"

"We are being followed. An extra gun hand and getting the engines started would be a good idea."

"I'll come out to meet you, sir." Zoe came out of her bunk and tracked down Inara. She was drinking some tea in the kitchen while going through the budget for the crew.

"Cap'n had some trouble on planet."

"I'll be sure to alert the newspapers." Inara said with a smile.

"I'm going to wait the feds out. Can you get the engines started for River?" Zoe got out her shotgun.

"Of course." Inara gracefully got out of the chair and made her way to the bridge. Zoe made her way out to meet the men, gun cocked and ready.

"I'm ready to go, sir."

"Good. We are about 5 minutes away, coming in from the west." Mal put away the communicator.

"Jayne, I need you to relax. No need to let the _tah mah de_ know that we are on to him. Doc, you, Kaylee, and your sister can just keep going. Steady pace. Me and Jayne here will take the rear." Simon, Kaylee, and River slowly increased their pace, letting Mal and Jayne fall behind.

"They know we are following them," the Doctor said as he sprinted back to the women.

"Well, duh! It's not like we're being subtle. Putting the men with guns in back. It's a smart move."

"I don't understand why we can't just go up to them. Let them know we are not a threat. Or we could just go our own way." They followed until they reached the ship docks. Mal, Jayne, Simon, River, and Kaylee all stopped in front of a rundown ship. While it was an older type, it was still beautiful in its own way. The Doctor marveled at the ship, while Martha and Donna were more concerned with the now three people pointing guns at them.

"Look at that ship! It's a Firefly, aught three model if I'm not mistaken! Oh, that's beautiful, that is. Martha, don't you just love it? It looks like a bird, almost, doesn't it? Great transport ship. It has a standard radion-accelerator core standard and can go as fast as 4.2 g! It's in good condition considering its age at this day and age. So, we all didn't get on the right foot back there. How's about we put down the guns and introduce ourselves?" The Doctor watched as everyone processed what he had said.

"Why exactly should we put down our weapons?" Zoe asked calmly.

"Well, I can give you two reasons. One, as you can plainly see, we are unarmed. Sure doesn't look good for you lot to be pointing guns at unarmed citizens. It might cause unwanted attention. As for reason number two, you could scare away potentially paying passengers."

"Paying passengers?" Mal asked. His gun lowered one inch. It wasn't much, but the Doctor saw that as progress.

"Yes. We're looking for a ship to take us to Bellerophon. Seeing the way you defend your crew and seeing your frankly magnificent ship, I must say you are looking to be our top pick. Can you put the gun down now?"

"What do you think, Zoe? Should we put the guns down?"

"I don't know, Sir. He seems shifty. I don't like it."

"The women folk don't seem to have much to say."

"We're used to not having a chance." Donna said. Zoe almost smiled at that as the Doctor made a face at her.

"I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Passage to Bellerophon for three people-" Mal started as he put down the gun. Jayne lowered his and Zoe didn't do a thing.

"Plus some cargo." The Doctor interjected.

"What kind of cargo?"

"A police box from Earth-That-Was. It's bulky and old, but it's worth a fortune. It's been handed down generation to generation in my family." The Doctor said. Martha and Donna snorted at that. After giving them a look, he walked up to Mal with his hand out.

"I'm the Doctor. This is Martha Jones and Donna Noble." He pointed at them in turn.

"The Doctor?" Mal asked. The Doctor nodded.

"Whatever. That's all fine and dandy, but the fact is that you tried to harm my pilot, Doctor. I don't think having you lot on board is such a good idea. I'll have to discuss it with her." Mal holstered his gun and went into the ship's cargo bay. He found River in the next hall. She was waiting for him.

"What's the news, Lil' Albatross?"

"He needs to be on board, Captain." She looked him in the eyes as she said this.

"Isn't he dangerous? You were screaming a lot back there, remember?"

"Yes, he's dangerous. He's very dangerous. But he won't harm us. He's lost. He's like us." She smiled and made her way to the bridge.

"Wait, I'm not done."

"Yes, we are. Get them on board. We will leave in about 30 minutes. Simon, we have new passengers!" She laughed as Simon gave her a confused look and danced passed him.

"What does she mean, new passengers? Have you forgotten that we are still fugitives to the Alliance? That scuffle in that alleyway alone could have alerted someone to our presence and now you want to bring new people on board?"

"Nope. Not new people. It's the people from the alley." Mal smiled at the look on Simon's face and made his way back out to the ship.

"Kaylee!"

"Yes, Cap'n?"

"You and Jayne take the mule. Find this box." He said as he walked up to the Doctor.

"Now, passage to Bellerphon for 3 with cargo will be 15 platinum." Mal held his breath. It was a high price. Too high, but he hoped that this Doctor would meet him at ten or just go with it. Ten was still a little high, but ten would ensure that they would keep flying with less worries. The Doctor frowned.

"15 platinum? Hmmm.." he dug into his pocket and picked through the money he had.

"Let's see. I have 30 platinum here. How's about I give you the 15 extra for special care of my box and for any trouble we may cause and call it even?" He handed out the money.

The crew looked at each other, flabbergasted. 30 platinum? With that, they could almost afford their own ship. Mal was the first to speak.

"What's in the box?"

"Excuse me?" The Doctor cocked an eyebrow.

"That is a lot of money to be throwing around. Too much for just a family heirloom. What kind of trouble are you bringing on my boat, Doctor? If it's Alliance trouble, you can forget it. No amount of money is worth me and my crew's lives." The Doctor looked down at the money and back up at the crew, who looked at the money like they had never seen that much before.

"Look, I have the extra money to throw around. I just don't want anything to happen to my box. There isn't anything in it that would cause problems with any law enforcement. It has sentimental value and I need to make sure it is taken care of. As for trouble, we had a minor misunderstanding before. I wanted to start this journey on the right foot. No other strings attached, I promise. Plus, I like the look of you and your crew. I think this could be a mutually beneficial arrangement if we can board your ship." He smiled at Mal. He could tell that he won over everyone but Mal and Zoe. They looked at each other and seemed to have a conversation with their eyes.

"Ok, then. Doctor, Martha, Donna: Welcome to _Serenity_. Just know, Doctor, that I have my eye on you." With that, Mal took the money and walked into his ship.

Chinese Translations:

_Zhu tamin ya min zhu yi - _Watch your back

_Shumma? - _What?

_Tah mah de_ – Mother fucker


	4. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

A/N: So, this chapter is the longest one thus far. 17 pages in Word! Enjoy! And I'm loving that everyone has been favoriting this story! :) I have no exams coming up like I have been this last week, so next update will be on the 7th unless something unexpected comes up!

Chapter 4: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Bellerophon was about a week's travel from Persephone. Getting the TARDIS on board was pretty easy. Getting The Doctor, Donna, and Martha on board and into rooms was also uneventful. River got _Serenity _on course pretty quickly and everything seemed to calm down, much to the surprise of the Captain. He made his rounds of Captainy things and halted in a dead stop in the kitchen. The Doctor and Kaylee were in the kitchen. Laughing. And Cooking. This did not bode well.

"What do we have here?" He asked as he made his way to the two.

"Hey, Cap'n. The Doctor here has offered to make dinner. It's real stir-fry!" Kaylee announced excitedly. The Doctor smiled. Mal did not.

"Don't tell me you lot are eating that processed protein all the time? I couldn't handle all that on my stomach. We are going to have food with actual vitamins in it! _Molte bene_!" Mal took a sniff. The food looked really good. There was beef. Lord, he hasn't had real beef in months! He stood staring at the food as Donna walked into the kitchen and did a double take.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking, Donna. What does it look like I'm doing?" The Doctor turned and went back to the wok, stirring the vegetables around. Donna walked up and looked over his shoulder and sniffed.

"Smells good. Don't burn down the kitchen, ok?" She turned and walked back out of the kitchen.

"Donna, I'm perfectly capable of cooking a meal. Otherwise, I'd be in real trouble." He called after her as she left.

"You want to help, Cap'n?" Kaylee asked. He was still staring at the meat. The Doctor chuckled. Mal started.

"Um, no thanks. I've got….Captainy things I need to be doing." That being said, he walked off to check on the engine room. Kaylee noticed his direction and winced.

"I had better follow him. He'll not be happy with my wiring job on the old girl." She made her way passed the Doctor. Simon was heading in as she left. He smelled the food and wanted to know what was going on. She kissed his cheek and whispered, "Be nice" as she walked past. He gave her a confused look. He'd been nice. The darker girl, Martha, was a doctor as well and they had been getting along pretty well. He turned back to the kitchen and saw The Doctor there. Oh. So that was why Kaylee said something. He was still very edgy around the Doctor for obvious reasons. Plus there was just something about him he didn't like. It wasn't something he could put his finger on, though.

"Well, are you going to come in, Doctor Tam?" He asked. "I won't bite, I promise. You can watch the veg while I finish the beef here." The Doctor moved over to his left where the beef was, making room for Simon to come in and watch the vegetables.

"I know that you and your sister are fugitives from the Alliance." Simon stopped, but didn't look up as he stirred the vegetables.

"You have nothing to fear from me. I don't work for them. I just want you to know that. I'm here because your sister is very...unique."

"She's unique? Well, then. By all means, I'll just let you take her and do whatever you want." Simon banged his wooden spoon as he set it down and turned to face the Doctor.

"She's not some science experiment. She's a person, with thoughts and feelings. She just wants to be a kid. I will not allow anyone to do anything with my sister's mind ever again. She's damaged enough as it is!"

"Whoa, whoa! I don't want to damage her!" The Doctor put his hands on Simon's shoulders. He attempted to get away, but the Doctor's grip was too strong.

"Listen to me, Simon Tam. I only want to help your sister. I don't want to do any harm. I find her intriguing because she is special. I hope that you will see soon that I may be able to help her in a way that you cannot and then maybe you will trust me." The Doctor took the meat off the stove.

"Now, we will just let this rest until supper. The vegetables only need another few minutes and then we can eat." Simon looked at him incredulously before walking out the door.

"Humans," the Doctor muttered as he moved the vegetables around the pan.

~`~`~`~Scene change~`~`~`~

The Doctor was making his way around the ship in the middle of the night. He really didn't need to sleep much, so found it therapeutic to roam around during the night. When he got up to the bridge, he was startled to find the captain sitting at the helm, drinking some homemade wine by the look of it. He thought Fireflies of this day and age had a standard autopilot at least. As though he felt his gaze, Mal turned around and noticed him.

"Well, well. What can I do for you, Doctor? You're not up here to cause trouble while everyone else was sleeping, were you?" The Doctor noticed that his hand twitched toward the gun he still had holstered. He went over to the window.

"Nope, no trouble. Just wanted to see the stars. Not sleepy." Mal hummed in response.

"I like it when it's like this. It's quiet, which you are hard-pressed to find in this ship." The Doctor smiled and sat in the co-pilot's chair. They sat together in a mutual, comfortable silence before Mal spoke.

"Doctor, I can't help but ask you something."

"Ok."

"Where did you fight in the War? I've been trying to place your face, but I have yet to be able to." The Doctor frowned, curious as to what he was talking about. Surely, Mal wasn't talking about the Time War. He looked down at his hands and noticed the sleeves of his jacket. Oh, yes. The Browncoats. Mal must've been one. He was about the right age.

"Oh, I'm not a Browncoat, Captain. I didn't find in the Unification War. I just have a coat that happens to be brown."

"Really? That's odd, because you have the look. The look of a man that's seen too much action in his lifetime." Mal's voice became sadder at the end of that sentence. He looked up to see if the Doctor had any reaction. What he saw startled him. The Doctor's face had a look that Mal couldn't place. It was not an emotion he knew to name. For that moment, his face didn't even look human. Then, it was gone. Maybe he had imagined it.

"Oh, I've seen some action. Not the same kind of action you've seen, but I've seen some action." The Doctor gave him a wry smile. Mal took another sip of his wine.

"This is a fine crew you have here." The Doctor said. Mal nodded and smiled.

"They are something, aren't they?"

"Poor Zoe, though. She hides from all of you so that you won't see that she's broken. Can't really blame her. She's just doing what she's always done. Carried on. Do you think her original family was British back on Earth-That-Was?" The Doctor rambled until he noticed Mal staring at him. That wasn't good. No. That was bad. Bad with an extra helping of bad.

"Why would you say that about Zoe? How would you know that?" Mal narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. The Doctor knew that move. That was a classic human aggressive lean. It was quite an intimidating move, if you were a human. Good thing he studied human behavior for so long, or he might have missed it.

"Because I'm smart, Captain."

"You a reader, Doctor?" The Doctor gave him a confused look.

"Well, yes, I suppose so. I like to read. Reading is good. You know what I love? Those posters with all the celebrities on it. They hold up a book and it says  
'Read' on it. Brilliant, they are! You know, I think I've held up enough of your time. Goodnight!" With that ramble complete, the Doctor wandered off, giving Inara the chance to come in. He heard her coming up and wasn't dumb. He could tell that they wanted each other. Far be it from him to play third wheel.

"What was that about?" Inara asked with a laugh. Mal turned around in surprise. He didn't hear her come in. He was still distracted by the Doctor's answer. Reading posters? What was that about? All of a sudden, there was a hand in his face.

"Mal? _n__ǐ__hái__huózhe__ma__?_"

"_Dang-ran_. Just trying to understand that fellow. There's just something about him. I can't place what it is that gives me the creeps. Inara, wanna make yourself useful?"

"Hm, don't I already?" She leaned into the controls and smiled at him.

"Of course. But, do you think you could try and get a read of this guy? You know, use your wiles? I just want to know if he's going to stab us in the back."

"No problem. Should I go and bring him into the shuttle too? Give him a free thrust so that you'll be satisfied?" She huffed and made her way out. If he wasn't belittling the life she had chosen before being suspended, he was trying to use it for his own purposes. Mal stood up and grabbed her arm.

"No." She whirled around, fire in her eyes.

"What?"

"No, I don't want you to take him to your shuttle. I would not be satisfied if you give him a free thrust." Mal said, not taking his eyes off her. She calmed down a little, but her eyes were wide in a mix of fear and want. She decided to take a chance.

"Then what would satisfy you, Mal?" She licked her lips and her heart skipped a beat when she saw his eyes follow the movement. They stared at her mouth for a moment before coming up to meet hers. What she saw there was a little scary. The scariest part was that she liked the look in them. She wished he would look at her like that every day for the rest of her life. That was scary.

"_Tyen shuh duh_" he muttered before going in. She met him halfway.

~`~`~`~Scene change~`~`~`~

"So you're just the tough guy around here?" Donna asked Jayne while he was working out the next morning.

"Yup. That's what I get paid for. What's your job?" He replied.

"Well, I'm the Doctor's companion. I just travel around with him." For some reason that Donna couldn't figure out, Jayne was all of a sudden giving her a look. She knew that look. You couldn't grow up in Chiswick and not know that look.

"Oy! Keep your hands to yourself, mate!" Donna said, backing away. Jayne looked her up and down with a smile that was downright filthy.

"So, you're exclusively the Doctor's companion then? What about the other woman then? Is she his companion too?"

"She was. Before I came along, but not anymore. The Doctor and her were just catching up. What? What's so funny?" Jayne was laughing.

"That is unfair. So, is this thing exclusive, or do you still get to have other clients?"

"Clients? For what?"

"The sexin'."

"The what?"

"You know? The sexin'. You're his companion, right?" Donna's jaw dropped before she burst out laughing. He gave her a confused look, which made her laugh harder.

"You think I'm sleeping with the Doctor? That skinny streak of nothing? No. No way. Not in a million years."

"But you said you were…" Jayne started.

"His friend. That's it. Why does everyone think we are a couple?" Donna just kept laughing. Jayne leered at her.

"So, he's not your type." He took a step towards her.

"Nope." Donna took a step towards him.

"What is your type?" Jayne took another step. They were nose to forehead now. Donna looked up at him and smiled.

"I like real men." She leered at him. He smiled. She raised her hand. WHAP! And slapped him hard across the face.

"Real men who don't assume all women are for sale." With that said, she stormed off. Jayne held his hand up against his stinging cheek and watched her depart.

"Huh…" he grunted as Kaylee walked in.

"Hi Jayne!"

"I'll be in my bunk." He grunted as he hurried off to his bunk.

"Oh, ok. Bye then!"

~`~`~`~Scene change~`~`~`~

"Good morning, Doctor." Inara said as she walked up to him in the hallway. He was leaning up against the railing that faced the cargo bay, thinking. He turned and smiled at her. He knew what she was up to, thanks to superior Time Lord hearing. She looked exhausted, probably from staying up all night obsessing about that kiss and the awkward parting after it. Of course, she didn't know he knew about that either.

"Good morning, Inara."

"You remembered my name. I'm impressed." She smiled and made her way to lean against the railing next to him, making sure to brush up against him "accidently." She figured if she at least got an impression of the Doctor, that she would have some reason to talk to the Captain and then maybe they could move on to more interesting topics, like last night. She was still reeling from it. Well, these were not the thoughts one should be having in her head if Mal was right and the Doctor was psychic. She shook her head and looked at him.

The first thought she had when she looked at him was that he was older than he seemed. While his physical appearance gave an age between 30 and 40, his eyes told her that he was a lot older, which didn't make any sense. He dressed well, which gave off the impression of money. That police box from Earth-That-Was also gave that impression. Though it looked a bit worn down and rickety, if it was from Earth-That-Was, it was worth a lot of money. If he had money, it made little sense to be traveling on a boat like this, unless he was running. He talked as though he had schooling, but his accent was like nothing she had heard before. The closest comparison she had was Badger, but it was more proper. He also didn't react to her brushing up against him. That was interesting.

"So, Doctor? I have been listening to you and your two female friends talk, and I cannot place the accent. Where are you from?"

"Oh, we travel a lot. Place to place, not really from anywhere." Great. A deliberately vague answer. That was interesting. Why be vague about where he was from?

"Are they related to you?"

"No, they are my friends." He deliberately didn't call them his companions. He knew the context she would take it and didn't want word to get back to either Martha or Donna that he considered them prostitutes, even if they would be high-end prostitutes.

"Ah, that's nice. It's good to have people you can rely on outside of family." She smiled at him.

"Yes, it is. It's amazing the things you would do to be around people you can rely on. Like being on this ship, when being in an upper class on a Core planet you could have a more dignified position." The Doctor turned to her.

"What gives you the impression that I'm from an upper class on a Core planet?" Inara asked. She was confused. How did the Doctor turn the conversation around like that?

"The perfume you're wearing? That's usually only worn by Companions or extraordinarily wealthy wives because of how rare and costly it is. Considering the ship you're on and the fact that you don't share lodging with anyone else on the ship, I'm guessing the former rather than the latter. I would guess if you were a Companion then you are probably from Sihnon." The Doctor smiled into Inara's shocked face. It only showed for a second before she schooled her features into a neutral look.

"Yes, well, I spent some time as a Companion. I'm taking a break from that life for now. So, here I am. Would you care for some tea?" She grabbed his arm and walked him to the kitchen. He nodded and happily went along. She brewed some tea and they sat down and drank.

"Ah, love those tannins and free radicals. Everyone should drink a good cup of tea, I always say." The Doctor rambled on, Inara noticed.

"So, Doctor, where is your family?" She asked. He started and looked up from his tea to stare at her.

"What? You know where I'm from. It's only fair." She smiled. He gave her a sad smile and drank his tea again before answering.

"No family. Just me and my friends, I'm afraid. And you didn't tell me where you were from; I guessed." He gulped down the rest of the tea, placed the cup on the table, and stood up.

"Well, Inara, this was nice, but I should go and make sure my friends aren't getting in any trouble." He calmly walked out.

Inara considered what she had learned, which wasn't much. He seemed to know that she was fishing for information and was very careful about what he said and how he said it. He also had a confidence in himself and held his presence in a manner that made him more attractive. These were things taught to Companions. Seeing how he dressed and acted, Inara would consider him a Companion himself if she didn't know any better. Didn't she? Maybe he was. He's had some kind of training.

Maybe he belonged to this Martha and Donna. It was not unheard of. In this day and age, it was still hard for women to be in charge without shedding a lot of blood or money, or both. If they kept the Doctor, they may have him take public charge for their own protection. Inara made a mental note to talk to them. She also made a mental image of Mal's face when she tells him about the possibility of the Doctor being a Companion. That thought alone made her laugh into her mug.

~`~`~`~Scene change~`~`~`~

Martha was having a hell of a time hanging with Simon in the infirmary. It didn't help much that the mechanic Kaylee kept coming in with problems to keep an eye on them. She was exploring the different medical equipment he had. It was far more advanced than anything she's seen, apart from the TARDIS of course. She was pretty sure she was looking pretty dumb in front of Simon as well because of the looks she was getting. She was gobsmacked by things he probably saw as standard.

"So, Martha, how long have you been a doctor?" Simon asked. He was currently reorganizing the drugs. Jayne had been in here again, looking for something. He noticed the look Martha had when she came in here. He didn't know what was so fascinating. Any doctor's office in the Verse had the same equipment. Better equipment, even. But she was looking like she had never seen a laser saw before. He made a note to not leave his extractor lying around. She might have a heart attack.

"I passed my exams almost a year ago. It still feels weird sometimes when people call me Dr. Jones." They both laughed. Simon stuck his hand in his pocket, feeling his watch. He remembered when he became a doctor. He and River laughed at him being "Dr. Tam" for two days. Too bad she won't ever be like that again. Martha noticed Simon put his hand in his vest pocket. He seemed to do that a lot. She wondered what he had in there. It must be a sentimental trinket of some sort. What would a man like Simon keep as a reminder? Simon looked over to see her staring at his hand.

"Oh, sorry. It's an old family heirloom that I keep with me. I dunno why I keep it, since it doesn't even work." He took the watch out of his pocket and showed it to Martha. Her eyes bugged out when she noticed the design on the front, but only for a second. She knew that pattern. It was the pattern of the Time Lords. If she brought his attention to it, bad things could happen. She needed to talk to the Doctor. Now.

"It's lovely." She smiled. "You know, I'm a little hungry. I'll be around later." She calmly turned around and made her way out.

"Ok, see you later." He went back to reorganizing the drawer, paying no never mind to the woman who ran like her life depended on it the second she was out of sight.

~`~`~`~Scene change~`~`~`~

"Hello, Mal." Mal started and looked up to see the last person he wanted to see right now. She was the last person to see because she was the first person he wanted to see. Inara made her way to the table as Mal finished his breakfast.

He really didn't know what to say to her. After the kiss they shared, they both made their excuses and she got out of there like she was on fire. It was supremely awkward. He knew how he felt. Hell, everyone on this gorram boat knew how he felt about her. He wasn't good enough for her though. She was a woman with learning. She deserved to find someone that wouldn't put her life in danger every minute of every day.

"Morning, 'Nara." You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. She sat down next to him.

"I spoke to the Doctor." He leaned forward, a suspicious look on his face that he desperately tried to hide. Jealousy was not becoming on him. She said she had talked to him. That didn't mean anything other than the fact that she talked to him.

"And?"

"He's had training. He was very good at concealing everything from me. He didn't react to anything I said or did. I barely got any information from him, while he gave the impression of an open book. He carries himself as though he's been trained at the Guild. He may be a Companion or at least, trained to be one." Inara said to him. Kaylee walked in the room.

"Who could be a Companion?" She asked as she grabbed some protein from the cupboard.

"The Doctor." Inara said at the same time as Mal said, "Nobody."

"Oh, I could see that. He's pretty _shuai_. And he talks like he's had some learning. I wouldn't put it past him. You think those two women hired him?" She asked Inara, excitedly sitting down. She was a fan of gossip.

"Could be. They may just let people think he's in charge. You know how it is out here, Mal. Women in charge are taken advantage of." Inara turned to him. Mal was chewing thoughtfully.

"All I got from him is that he doesn't have any family. He doesn't seem to have any resentment for the women, so it must be a mutual transaction. He's not around them against his will."

"Who's not here against his will?" Donna asked as she came into the room. She noted to herself as they all stopped talking when she said something. That was suspicious. Did they also think that her and Martha were prostitutes? This could be awkward. But why would they say him?

"Nobody important." Mal said as he rose from his seat. He brought his plate to the sink and washed up. Inara got up as well, and Kaylee just nonchalantly ate her protein.

"Ok. Well, I just had a chat with your friend Jayne and I want to clear something up about me and the Doctor. We're not a couple. We are not having sex. You lot all need to get your minds out of the gutter. There is no sex to be had! That's just…ew." Donna didn't look at any of them as she said this. She just went about making her tea. She didn't turn around until she heard Kaylee laughing hysterically while Mal uttered a gasp and stared at Donna with wide eyes. She shrugged.

"What? It's not like any of you are very subtle. I could tell you wanted to know. I'm telling you all this because Jayne outright asked me. How's about instead of sneaking around, unsuccessfully I might add, you just ask us. We're not about to do anything harmful to anyone." She blew over her mug and sat down across from Kaylee.

"Donna, have you seen the Doctor?" Martha ran into the room, gasping. She had a wild look in her eye that sprang everyone into action.

"No, why?" Donna asked. Martha looked around the kitchen pointedly and shook her head.

"It's nothing. I just need to find him." She turned to leave the room. Everyone heard her run out and turned to look at Donna again. She shrugged.

"Now, see. That is subtle. You have to do years of training to perfect that!" Kaylee laughed.

~`~`~`~Scene change~`~`~`~

The Doctor was looking around the engine room when River found him. She watched him putter around silently. He stilled for a moment, thinking she was Kaylee. Then he felt the presence in his mind, smiled, and turned to her.

"Hello, River. You've been avoiding me lately." He walked over to her and she hugged him. He awkwardly patted her shoulder. She pulled back and looked at him.

"You can help me? They went in my head with their thoughts and needles and I can't make it stop. They are always screaming. I thought Miranda would help, but I need some silence." She sat down, exhausted. He sat down across from her.

"I can try, little one. I can't make any promises though." He raised his hands to her face. She grabbed his hands and put them on her head in the perfect spot for the connection. That was interesting, he thought to himself.

"Ok, River. I'm going to need you to imagine a door to let me in. If there is anything you don't want me to see, I want you to put it behind another door and close it. I won't look. I promise." They both shut their eyes.

"Oh, dear. What have they done to you? Why would they do this to a young girl? This doesn't make any sense." Image after image flooded the Doctor's mind. Several "experiments" that seemed like mindless torture that she had endured, along with the vision of Miranda. He also saw some visions of her and Simon, laughing together.

He went along her neural pathways, getting to the root of her psychic abilities. He wanted to erect some shielding for her and then teach her how to use it on her own. That way, she will be able to use it in the future when and if she wants to.

There was a flash before he got to the controls. That was odd. He went back and immediately severed the connection. He opened his eyes and stared at River, backing away from her.

"How do you have a vision of Gallifrey in your head?"

Chinese phrases used:

_n__ǐ__hái__huózhe__ma__?_: Are you alive?

_Dang-ran_: Of course.

_Tyen shuh duh: _God knows what

_Shuai_: Handsome

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	5. Open the Watch!

A/N: Ok….so I am definitely NOT going to put up when I will be updating again because I was WAY off. Sorry about that. I want to thank you guys for the reviews. Love them all. :) Special shout out to Ugolino for mentioning my Martha faux pas. Shouldn't happen again. Lol Anywho, back to the story

Chapter 5: Open the Watch

"Gallifrey?" River whispered. She started backing away from the Doctor.

"That vision I saw? That was my home planet. How did it get in your head?" He went forward and grabbed her shoulders. She stared straight at him.

"Gallifrey. Galactic coordinates ten-zero-eleven-zero-zero by zero-two from galactic zero centre in the Kasterborous constellation. The burnt orange sky, the red grass. Oh! _Ta de di ránshāo_! Make it stop! SIMON!" She started screaming. The Doctor panicked and put his hands back on her temples. River collapsed in a deep sleep just as Mal and Simon rushed in.

Mal took one look at River and grabbed the Doctor, pushing him to his feet and to the wall opposite. He took his gun out and aimed it at his head. Simon rushed to River and checked her pulse.

"What did you do?" Mal growled. The Doctor seemed barely aware of the situation. He was sweating a slightly shaking. His glazed eyes went from River to Mal.

"I…she was screaming. I put her to sleep because she is exhausted. She'll only sleep for about 4 hours or so. She's ok. I didn't harm her." He locked eyes with Simon as he said the last two sentences.

"What's going on?" Zoe walked in, shotgun in hand.

"That's what we all want to know." Simon replied.

"Cap'n." Zoe said. Mal looked over at her. She nodded toward the Doctor, who was literally sagging. He was looking at River, but not really seeing anything. Mal let go of him. He stumbled but managed not to fall into a heap. Martha finally caught up and made her way over to him, uncaring about the guns. She put her arm around his waist.

"What happened? Are you ok?"

"No. I need the TARDIS. That girl…she's something else. I don't know how she did that…" He leaned into her. She smiled.

"Ok, we'll get you there. Walk with me, ok? Don't faint because I can't carry you." She began to lead him out of the room, but Mal stopped them.

"Where do you think you're taking him? I think we all would like to know what happened."

"Well, right now River is asleep and unharmed. The Doctor is exhausted from giving her the sleep she needs. I say we talk about this later when both of them have had some rest. Or you could shoot us dead because I'm not going to just sit here when my friend needs help." Martha led him out of the room. Mal was speechless.

"Well, she is telling the truth. River's asleep. I've never seen her sleep this soundly before. There's nothing wrong, if you ignore the fact that she's sleeping on the engine room floor immediately after a screaming fit." Simon said. Mal looked at him.

"I saw his hands on her head as she fell. You think he did it to her?"

"Yes."

"So, he could do that to anyone of us at anytime?"

"Maybe. We don't know for sure."

"Sir, folk can't do that to each other." Zoe said.

"Then what is he?" Mal asked. He waited a moment, and then went to follow wherever the Doctor was going.

The man in question was slowly making his way to the cargo area with Martha bearing a lot of his weight. Putting River out was a lot more strain then he thought. It took a lot of power to allow her the rest she needed. More power than it should take. Plus, it had been some time since he'd used his telepathy that way. Donna walked up to them. When she saw the glazed look in the Doctor's eyes, she quickened her pace until she was at the other side of him.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"We are going to the TARDIS. The Doctor needs to rest, but I need to tell you something first." Martha said.

"What's on your mind, Dr. Jones?" He asked. He hoped it wasn't too important. He couldn't really concentrate on anything but staying aware enough to get to the TARDIS.

"I was in the infirmary with Simon. We were talking about medicine when he put his hand in his pocket. Doctor, he has a fob watch."

"So?" Nearly there. Almost to the TARDIS. They made their way into the cargo bay and the Doctor got out his key. Once in the TARDIS, he breathed a sigh of relief. Martha watched as he leant up against one of the struts. She decided to give him a minute. He sighed again as he felt the TARDIS in his mind, easing the strain River had caused.

"It is the same design to the one that you had. The same design that the Master had." The Doctor turned around suddenly, startling both Donna and Martha. Donna stared at Martha and then looked to the Doctor nervously. He was staring at Martha, jaw agape.

"What?"

"He has a fob watch like yours. I didn't say anything to him about it, I swear. He showed it to me and said it was a family heirloom! He seemed pretty familiar with it. He keeps it in his pocket at all times." Martha said. She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder, smiling.

"You know what this means."

"Yes, I do. Do you know what this means, Martha?" The Doctor turned Martha around to look her in the eye.

"Granted, this is assuming that it is a Chameleon Arch watch. If it is, I'm curious why all the Time Lords want to show you their watch. That's interesting. If he really is a Time Lord and opens the watch, that poor young woman will have no family left. I don't know what will happen to her if she loses him. I've been in her head. Horrible things have happened to her. She sees Simon as her rock. The last thing she can cling to when it's too much for her. I won't do it. I won't take away the only good thing she has." He slumped down in the jump seat, putting his head in his hands. Martha looked over at Donna, who shrugged before moving over to him and rubbing his shoulders. At first, he moved away from the contact. Gradually, he relaxed and that was when Donna talked to him.

"Doctor, what if she was a Time Lord too?" He looked up at her, frowning.

"Donna, Time Lords very rarely travel together. Can you imagine 2 people like me in the same room? If they do, 9 times out of 10 they are a mated pair. A mated pair wouldn't turn themselves into siblings. Plus, the Time Lords perfected the Chameleon Arch. There wouldn't be a problem like River's." He leaned into her caresses for another minute before jumping up.

"Ok, how about we figure all this out?" He went over to the door and opened it. He was greeted by Mal's gun.

"Well, this seems familiar." He held his hands up. Behind Mal were Zoe, Simon, and Kaylee. Kaylee had caught up to the posse as they followed the Doctor. She was just there to see what was going on.

"You went away so quickly that we didn't….huh" Everything Mal was going to say left his brain as he noted the inside of the TARDIS. Zoe, who always had Mal's back, was staring as well. The Doctor stepped back and made room for everyone to come in. Nobody did.

"_Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze fuh ur-tze_. What the hell is THAT?" Mal exclaimed. Everyone else was too busy staring. The Doctor smiled.

"Would you like to come in?" He asked. Donna and Martha were giggling inside. They were reminiscing about their first experience with the TARDIS.

"Like hell, I don't! How is that thing bigger on the inside?" Mal asked. He was backing away. Zoe casually made her way to the side in order to observe the size of the box holding that giant space inside.

"You know, I could give you a ten minute physics lesson to explain, but I think I will go with advanced science." The Doctor answered.

"Sir, I think they're aliens." Zoe said. She raised her gun.

"Oh, c'mon. There is no such thing as aliens!" Kaylee said.

"Well, actually…" The Doctor said, rubbing the back of his neck. Mal now raised his gun again.

"_Jen dao mei_. We get a well-paid job and it's for freaking Aliens!" Mal said. He started to pace. "This is what happens when my plans go smooth. Something freaky happens when things go smooth. I get three aliens on my gorram boat!"

"Ok, first of all, you don't have three aliens on your ship. Donna and Martha are human. I'm the only alien. This is my ship. I'm not here to hurt any of you. I come in peace." He grimaced and turned around to Martha and Donna. "Did I just say that? Rassilon, don't ever let me say that again. I'll become a walking cliché."

"You're an alien?" Zoe asked. She finally lowered her gun.

"Yup. Actually I'm older than all of you, so technically you are all aliens."

"Prove it." The Doctor gave her a confused look.

"Prove what?" He asked.

"Prove you're an alien. You look pretty human to me."

"What? The spaceship isn't enough for you? Blimey, you humans are hard to please." Martha stepped forward before The Doctor started on an anti-human speech.

"He has 2 hearts."

"No way." Simon said. She looked at him and gestured for him to come forward.

"Feel for yourself." Simon put his hands on the Doctor's chest, and sure enough, there were two hearts.

"That's…" He couldn't quite put into words how strange it was to feel two hearts beating in someone's chest. He turned to Mal and Zoe and nodded. Mal immediately came up and put his hands on The Doctor's chest as well.

"Well, I'll be damned. Zoe, he's a bonified alien!"

Martha looked at the Doctor. He was staring at Simon. He felt her stare and looked at her. He subtly nodded.

"Simon?" Martha asked. He looked at her.

"Can you show the Doctor the watch in your pocket?"

"Why? What's so special about a broken old watch?" He reached into his vest pocket and took out the watch. As he looked at it, something felt strange. He couldn't name what it was, but the watch suddenly seemed more interesting than before. The Doctor caught a glimpse of it. It was the correct fob watch. Who was he? At least he knew who it wasn't. He smiled at the thought.

"Are you going to open it, Simon?" He asked. Simon looked up at him. He turned the watch around.

"He can't open it. It's broke," Kaylee said. Everyone else seemed pretty confused about the whole situation.

Simon stared at the watch again. The watch needed to be opened. He could feel it in his bones. But it was broken. Unless he…oh, that was right. He could open the watch if he just hit this little button. He hit the button and was engulfed in a bright golden light.

Mal, Zoe, Kaylee, Martha, and Donna stared. They had never seen anything like it before. Simon's body looked as though it was on fire. He wasn't screaming, so maybe it wasn't painful. It sure looked like it would hurt.

When it seemed to slow down, everyone's gaze fell on the Doctor. He had paled significantly. Now, he was starting to back away, back into the TARDIS. All of a sudden, Simon stopped glowing and the watch fell to the ground. He shook his head and stretched his arms. After feeling his own face, he looked around the room and his gaze locked on the Doctor. Naturally, everyone stared at the Doctor as well.

"This cannot be happening…." The Doctor muttered. He ran his hands through his hair.

"Oh but it is. Hello, Father." He smiled. Everyone gasped. There was an awkward silence. Then Mal scratched his head and moved forward. His eyes were on the Doctor as he asked a very important question.

"Did my doctor just look into a watch and magically turn into your alien son?"

~`~`~`~`Chinese terms used~`~`~`~`~`

_Ta de di ránshāo!_: It's burning!

_Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze fuh ur-tze: _Son of a drooling whore and a monkey.

_Jen dao mei: _Just our luck.


	6. Explanation, please!

A/N: For the big DW fans, I am making the woman in white from EOT Susan. You will see why in this chapter. I also just liked the idea that it was Susan better than it being his mother. I will also be addressing Simon by his Time Lord name from now on once it's been introduced.

Also, sorry about the long wait. Finals time is now over…..*sigh* I responded to all the reviews for Chapter 5 minus the one anonymous one I received. Hana, I'm glad you reviewed! :) Thanks!

Chapter 6: Explanation please?

Time seemed to stand still. Simon, or what used to be Simon, bent down and picked up the alien-switchy thing. Mal couldn't figure this thing out. How in the world did that watch have an alien in it? For damn sure, he wasn't going to be opening any watches anytime soon. This was all getting a little too fanatical for his liking. Just this morning, he was obsessing over the awkward talk that he and Inara were going to have sooner or later. Now there were aliens on his ship. Aliens and boxes that weren't boxes when you open them. Right now, he was missing River and her normal craziness. Never thought he'd see the day when he would think that. Why couldn't it have been River that was the alien? That at least made sense. Girl was crazier than crazy, even on her good days. But, no. The alien had to take his doctor. His sensible, brilliant, although socially awkward and irritating, doctor.

While Mal was having a mental crisis, The Doctor stopped backing away. Slowly, he moved forward and brought his hand up as if to touch Simon's face. Simon flinched and backed away.

"Drash? How is this possible?" He smiled in awe. Simon, or Drash as it seemed, did not smile. Martha and Donna gave each other worried looks when The Doctor's face fell. He backed away from his son and toward the TARDIS.

"Doctor? What's going on?" Donna asked. "Who is this?"

The Doctor turned to her and noticed that everyone was staring at both of them. He looked at Drash again in disbelief that he was alive. His son! Alive. Still mad at him, apparently, but what did that matter? He turned back to Donna.

"This is Drashynoldachhengolilen, my son."

"Your son came out of a watch?" Mal asked.

"Well, yes and no, Captain. The watch contained the Gallifreyan biological information. Gallifreyan, that's what we are. Gallifrey is our home planet. The Chameleon Arch changes over the information in order to register us as other species. It's a way to hide in time of a crisis." The Doctor explained. Mal was sorry he even asked. Now he was even more confused. He looked over at Zoe, who had no hidden answers. She still looked to be assessing the situation. He looked over at Kaylee, who was staring at Simon in horror. She was probably still processing the fact that he was an alien. Hell, they all were processing that he was an alien, even Martha and Donna. The only comfort of this_ qíguài de qíng kuàng_ was that it wasn't just his crew that was confused. The Doctor's crew looked just as lost.

"He's your son?" Martha asked. When The Doctor nodded, her and Donna started to smile.

"It's not something I would brag about," Drash replied, giving Martha a neutral look. Donna frowned. That warranted more attention later. Shouldn't he be happy to see his father? He had absolutely no emotion whatsoever on his face. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

"Drash, how did you get here?" The Doctor asked. Martha and Donna both noticed that he didn't try to go to him again. He seemed rooted to the spot, staring at Drash from the same spot by the TARDIS.

"I find myself wondering the same thing. Aren't you supposed to be dead? The burning of Gallifrey was supposed to kill you. Maybe we should discuss this in the TARDIS. I don't want River to overhear just yet." He made to go inside the TARDIS. The Doctor moved aside from the door to let him pass and then followed him inside.

"Did you notice that even though they thought the other was dead that they haven't even touched?" Martha asked Donna quietly.

"_Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gal si_! Did you notice that we have FREAKING ALIENS on my boat?" Mal countered.

"I have no idea what is going on. Shouldn't they be happy to see each other? I mean, they are all they have left now, right?" Donna asked, ignoring Mal's outburst.

"What about River? Is she an alien too?" Zoe asked.

"Where am I going to find another doctor with River on board? Or will they take her too?"

"Wait! Simon's going to leave? Nobody said nothing about leavin'!" Kaylee asked, panicked.

"Well, of course he's going to leave. He needs to be with his father. Why should we take River? She's human. They aren't related." Donna said.

"They were related not two minutes ago. Who's to say she's not an alien too? Where did they find each other if they ain't related?" Zoe asked.

"If they are related, why haven't they gone to change River back? Shouldn't that be the top priority?" Donna asked. She took a step forward towards Zoe. Zoe took a step towards her.

"You know, I think we all need to calm down." Martha stepped between the two women. They glared at each other for a moment until Drash appeared from the TARDIS.

"Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear the arguments you were all having. Why don't you all come in and then we won't have to repeat ourselves? It's not like all this needs to be a secret. Mal, please close the door behind you. I don't want River to wander in." With that said, he went back in, leaving the TARDIS doors open. One by one, they all filed in. Kaylee took up the rear and closed the door behind everyone as Mal took it upon himself to go in first as if to prove he wasn't afraid of some alien spaceship shaped like an ancient phone box.

Kaylee sighed as she made her way inside the TARDIS for the first time. The shock, sadness, and despair left her the second she felt the presence of the TARDIS. She smiled at the console and closed her eyes. Finally, here was something that was not scary and confusing. Well, it was scary and confusing, but in a good way. She held out her hand and touched a strut that looked like some kind of coral. She instantly felt right at home. The machine was talking to her so much clearer than any other machine, almost singing. It was so beautiful, this ship. Almost like it was alive. Correction: it was almost like _she_ was alive. She felt a warmth flow through her at that thought.

"Kaylee?" The Doctor's voice shook her out of her reverie. She took her hand off the strut as though it was on fire. She turned, noticing that The Doctor was standing at the console. She hadn't noticed him there. He had seen her touch the strut. Maybe she wasn't allowed to do that. After all, this was an alien ship. Her face burning, she met The Doctor's gaze.

"Yes?"

"Come on. Don't worry. I'll let you fiddle with the TARDIS later. She seems to like you." He smiled warmly at her and held out his hand. She smiled in return, putting her hand in his.

"Really? She likes me?"

"Yes. She's alive. I know you can hear her. We'll play later. For now, let's figure all this out."

"Alive?" She asked. The Doctor nodded but still led her on to the kitchen.

"Ok. I want to know all about this ship, but it can wait. Lead on, Doctor. I don't want to get lost." He led her into the kitchen. Immediately the current events that unfolded hit her again and she felt queasy. Everyone except for Drash was sitting at the table. Donna had made coffee and tea for everyone. Drash was standing by the table. He watched the Doctor and Kaylee walk in and frowned at his father.

"So, why don't you start, since your story is significantly shorter?" he told The Doctor.

"Well, I suppose I should start by telling you lot that our people were involved in a war. A Time War. The Last Great Time War. The Time Lords fought a race called the Daleks, who were trying to destroy every living thing."

"When did this happen? I've never heard any of this." Kaylee asked. Drash noted to himself that she still had yet to look at him since he changed. That saddened him, but it had to be a low blow for her to find out her boyfriend was an alien.

"A while ago to me. It will never happen for you, due to things that you wouldn't understand. Everyone lost. The Daleks and Time Lords were mostly wiped out by the burning of Gallifrey. Once the Cruciform was destroyed, everything fell and I had to do what needed to be done to stop the war." The Doctor's voice broke.

"That should have killed you instantly. If the burning alone didn't, how could you concentrate enough to regenerate? I wasn't dying and the noise itself made me want to die. I don't know what was worse: the screaming inside my head as they were dying or when it all stopped into this horrible silence." Drash said.

"I didn't survive by choice. The TARDIS forced my regeneration. I woke up after it was all over inside the console room to that unbearable silence." The Doctor answered. He wasn't even paying attention to the shocked faces of the humans. His eyes were on his son. He walked toward him. Although he tensed, Drash didn't back away this time. He put his hands on Drash's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. Drash could see the tears threatening to fall. Donna was dismayed to see that there was still no emotion on Drash's face. It was like it was made of stone. Didn't he care at all?

"I'm so glad you're alive. I…always regretted the last conversation we had. But we can talk about that later. I want to hear what happened to you." The Doctor squeezed his shoulder and sat down in between Donna and Martha. They each squeezed his hand. Then everyone's attention went to Drash. Drash didn't seem too bothered by having everyone's attention on him. Well, he didn't seem anything. Donna was finding him irritating because he still had this neutral look on him that didn't change no matter the circumstances.

"For me, it all started after Susan went to the High Council meeting where Rassilon announced the Ultimate Sanction. She came to me before she told you about it. She told me what Romana had planned for you to do. Susan was my daughter's name, by the way."

"You were a grandfather?" Donna asked with a giggle. The Doctor smiled.

"Yup." He popped the 'p.' "She was brilliant, that Susan."

"Poor thing." Martha teased. The Doctor pouted at her.

"Yes, she was brilliant. Too bad her grandfather just dumped her on a desolate planet with a strange man she had just met with no way to contact her family." Drash said, venom in his voice. Donna and Martha looked at the Doctor in shock.

"What?"

"We'll discuss that later. Why don't you move on?" The Doctor pointedly ignored the four women staring daggers at him. He also ignored the poor man who was trying to figure out how a man his age could have a son Simon's age and a granddaughter. That made no sense at all.

"What is the Ultimate Sanction?" Zoe asked.

"And who is Rassilon? And Romana?" Mal asked.

"And what is regeneratin'? You mentioned that earlier." Kaylee piped up.

"Regenerating is a process that Time Lords go through when their life is in danger. It's sort of a way of cheating death. Instead of dying, we convert energy and burst it out and change every cell in our body, changing its appearance. It's one reason why we look like we are only a few years apart when we are a generation apart. Romana was our President. Rassilon was a legend that overthrew her when the council resurrected him. The Ultimate Sanction was Rassilon's final plan to destroy the Daleks. They wanted to destroy all of creation and become creatures of consciousness. It was an idea born of insanity and a desire for the war to just end. By that time, it was die or die." Drash replied. Mal paled.

"So, you destroyed your race to save us? You didn't even know us." Kaylee asked the Doctor. He nodded. She went over and hugged him.

"Thank you, Doctor. I don't know why you did it, or how you could. But, I'm glad to be alive." She whispered in her ear. The Doctor smiled uncomfortably.

"You're welcome." He patted her back. She let him go and went to lean against the counter.

"Anyway, when I heard the plan, I decided to evacuate. I wanted to get as many people out as I could before it got too bad. Sadly, most people seemed content in the fact that Gallifrey could never be destroyed. The others were attempting to meditate the problem away. My own wife wouldn't go with me. Susan told me that she had to stay. She wanted to attempt to convince Rassilon not to go forward. In the end, Hana was the only one that would go with me."

"You got Hana out?" The Doctor said.

"Who's Hana?" Martha asked.

"Hanageitmososangsulver. My older sister." Drash answered.

"River?" Zoe asked.

"How could it be River? She's younger than him!" Kaylee replied.

"Wait, Time Lords do that regeneraty thing. Maybe she did that and so she's older yet younger….wait, how does that work again?" Mal started out confident, but ended up confused again. Drash smiled at them. Or was it a smirk? Mal couldn't tell.

"It's 'regeneration.' It's a biological process that happens in my race. That's all you really need to know. River isn't just my human sister. She's Hana, my older Gallifreyan sister."

"Why haven't you gone to un-watch her then? Would that make her better?" Mal asked. His head was starting to hurt. All these aliens and humans becoming aliens was too much for him to take. He did not sign up for this.

"I'm getting to that. Hana and I got into her TARDIS and we gathered a few things. Bits of Gallifrey so that not everything would die out forever. Gallifrey was taken out of space in time; the culture didn't have to. Hana being Hana decided that she had to liberate every single Type 40 piece from the storehouse of her shop before leaving, so we had to get all that aboard too." The Doctor laughed at the disgruntled look on Drash's face. Everyone looked at him, confused.

"Hana grew TARDIS's. She also repaired them. She loved this ship especially. My TARDIS is a Type 40. She would keep pieces she found for the ship and save them for when I would visit." He told them.

"Yes, and thanks to that obsession of hers to please you, she wasted a regeneration. She didn't get on the ship fast enough and got hit. She regenerated as soon as we left Gallifrey." The Doctor's smile faded quickly.

"Anyway, they launched the Nightmare Child right before we left. It damaged the ship so badly that we ended up crash landing on Osiris. It didn't help that Hana had just regenerated. It was really bad. Hana couldn't fix it right away. We didn't really know what to do. So, we tried to live a normal life until she could get us off world. I got a job and we lived in a house. She spent as much time as she could trying to fix the ship. After about a month, I noticed that the federal officers of the planet were following me home from work. Hana was also being followed and she caught someone attempting to break into the house.

We discussed our options. Our final decision was to pack up and move to another location on planet and use the Chameleon Arch. We set it up to signal back after a month. Since Hana was more closely linked to the ship, her watch carried the signal for us to wake up. We made sure the history would make us close siblings so that we wouldn't separate. We figured after being gone for a month, whoever was watching us wouldn't be looking anymore."

"But you were wrong." Mal stated. Drash looked at him and nodded.

"They went after Hana, who now knew herself as River. They took her to that Academy and I couldn't do anything to stop them. I don't know what they did to her, Father. I just know that they were playing with her head."

"They were doing experiments on her brain. My guess is that they got into the link somewhere and some of her natural consciousness is starting to leak through. That must be what is causing all her problems." The Doctor ran his hands through his hair. Drash moved over to him.

"Wait, I thought the Chameleon Arch completely changed your biology over to human. How could they get to her consciousness if it was in the watch?" Martha asked. Drash rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, obviously there is a part of us still in the body we are inhabiting. The Chameleon Arch takes enough out so that we do not register as Gallifreyen. It doesn't completely kill our natural selves. There is way too much information for it to fit in a watch. It's a long and drawn out explanation that you wouldn't understand, so how about I just say it just does?"

"Oy! There's no need to be rude!" Donna growled.

"What? She asked and I attempted to get an answer she would understand." Drash replied, looking at the Doctor with a confused look on his face. The Doctor smirked before a thought hit him.

"Drash? Where is her TARDIS? If I know Hana, and I do, she probably left her watch in her ship instead of keeping it on her person."

"I don't know. Last thing I remember from that planet is walking by it once on Osiris."

"We need to find it." Everyone listened as the Doctor and Drash argued over ways to find the ship. Nobody noticed Kaylee make her way out of the ship. The TARDIS noticed her distress and led her to the exit quickly.

~`~`~`Change of scene~`~`~`

River slowly woke up. It had only been an hour, but something had happened. Some strange feeling she couldn't name caused her to wake up before she was supposed to. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Hey crazy. You awake?" Jayne walked into the infirmary. River was sleeping on the bed. He liked to come in here when the Doc wasn't around. Simon that is, not that creepy Doctor fella in the suit. Something about him wasn't right. Messing up the drawers on purpose was Jayne's new purpose in life. It was quite entertaining, watching Simon freak out.

"I'm awake, Jayne. Where is everyone?" She asked as she got up. Something still felt weird. She didn't know what it was, but there was something niggling in the back of her head.

"Hell if I know. Everyone seems to be gone. Guess it's just you and me." Jayne laughed at the look of disgust on her face.

"He's gone. Gone through the tunnel to never return again. Why do they leave? I have nothing left to give. Just her. Only her. They'll never touch her. I won't let them. I won't let them fly." She said. Jayne stared at her.

"You can't even make a half of sense, can you?" He asked. She looked at him, as though she didn't understand what he had said. Then, her head snapped forward.

"The box." She said.

"What box?" he asked. After thoroughly messing up the drawers, he made to leave. She was starting to creep him out.

"It's not relevant. Jayne?" She called after him after shaking her head.

"What?"

"Want to do cartwheels in the hallway?" He looked at her as though she had gone crazy. Oh, wait…

A/N: Time War info I got off of Wikipedia and the names I got from the Time Lord name generator. Just google that. You'll find it.

Chinese translation

_qíguài de qíng kuàng- _bizarre situation/strange circumstances

_Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gal si! – _Fuck everyone in the universe to death!


	7. The Search is On

A/N: Ok, so…um. Sorry about the delay. I've been on vacation and had a death in the family that has been distracting me from this fanfic.

Chapter 7: The Search is On

"So, the last place you saw this tardo thing-"

"TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimension in Space." The Doctor interrupted.

"Ok, TARDIS thing would have been on Osiris? Well, we can get there in about 9 days if we turn the ship now. Zoe, let's go do that." Mal turned to leave. He looked around him, unsure.

"Go through that door and follow the hallway until you see the console." The Doctor said, pointing. Mal nodded and they went out.

"Sir, you don't need me to alter our course." Zoe pointed out.

"I know that, but that _qiguai di waixing ren diahhua ting_ gives me the creeps. I didn't want to leave by myself. Now, how's about we get going to Osiris?"

~`~`~`~ Change of Scene ~`~`~`~

"Explain this to me again. Why aren't we just taking the TARDIS? We can be there in 5 minutes or less. Why are we taking the human's ship which will take nine days?" Drash asked the Doctor. Martha and Donna could see a line of tension enter the Doctor's body. They went into the console room as they argued with the women behind them, flashing each other concerned looks.

"We are taking _Serenity_ because I don't feel comfortable landing the TARDIS on the same planet where the federals noticed your sister's ship." He replied. He started to fiddle with the console. Drash looked at him reproachfully.

"Why are you doing that? I'm not one of your little human friends. I actually know how to pilot this thing. I know you're not doing anything. You're just trying to avoid actually having a conversation with me." The Doctor froze for a second before straightening up and facing Drash.

"Yes, I'm avoiding having a conversation with you because you are picking a fight. You are doing what you always did with me, Drash. Why don't you say what you've been itching to say for the past 100 years or so? I'm getting tired of all the petty fights."

"Rassilon, you are impossible! I'm only doing what you've done your whole life. Avoid, avoid, avoid. I just can't be here right now." Drash turned around and stormed out of the TARDIS. Martha and Donna just stood there, unsure of what to say. The Doctor went back to tinkering.

~`~`~`~ Change of scene ~`~`~`~

Inara was tidying up the shuttle she was still renting when Kaylee stormed in. She wasn't doing a very good job of tidying anyway. She was getting distracted. She looked up to say something, but stopped when she saw Kaylee's face. She wasn't sure which concerned her more: the fear or the despair. She beckoned Kaylee to sit down on the bed.

"_Mei mei_, what's wrong?" She sat down beside her. Kaylee collapsed into her shoulder.

"Nara, he changed. Simon, he's- he's an ALIEN!"

"What? You're talking into my shoulder, sweetheart." Inara rubbed her shoulder affectionately. Kaylee tensed and straightened up.

"You remember The Doctor?"

"Yes. What does he have to do with Simon?"

"The Doctor's an alien, Inara."

"What?" The smile fell from Inara's face once she realized that Kaylee wasn't joking.

"He's an alien. That blue box he has? It's not an Earth-That-Was relic. It's his spaceship. I was in it. It's bigger on the inside." Inara's jaw dropped, but Kaylee continued.

"But the important thing, Inara? The big important thing? My Simon! He killed my Simon! Simon looked into his watch and now he's an alien too!" Kaylee started to cry again. Inara was still staring at her.

"Wait, The Doctor killed Simon? By making him look into a watch? Kaylee, I don't understand what you're saying." Inara was bewildered by this point. Kaylee didn't seem to be in the mood to further explain the events that took place, as she continued to cry into Inara's shoulder.

"It's true. What she's saying." Simon, or apparently an alien, was standing in the doorway. Kaylee started wiping her face. Inara just stared between the two of them.

"Kaylee? Can I have a word with you? Alone?" Kaylee looked over at Inara, uncertain. Inara subtly nodded. She was still processing the fact that Simon was an alien. That didn't make sense. He looked exactly the same. How in the Verse did he become an alien? Were they both insane?

"Ok." Kaylee got up and left the shuttle. Simon made to follow her, but Inara got up and grabbed his arm. She immediately recoiled.

"Simon, you're freezing!" She looked shocked. Simon smiled.

"I'm an alien to you now, Inara. My core temperature is lower than yours. Well, actually I was an alien first. I changed to a human to protect myself and River, whose name is actually Hana. I'm sorry you have to find out in a rush like this. I'd like to be called Drash now, if you don't mind."

"Ok, then." Inara nodded. Drash nodded back and left the shuttle, leaving behind an extremely confused Companion.

"How about we go somewhere where everyone else is not?" Drash asked Kaylee. She nodded and they went into the engine room.

"So, where is Simon now? Is he dead? Or are you still Simon? I don't understand any of this." Kaylee asked. She sat down. Drash sat next to her, but not too close. Inside she was relieved. It was hard enough just looking at him, knowing what he was and who he was not.

"Well, Simon is a facet of me, I suppose you could say. He's not really dead because he is me." Drash looked at her thoughtfully. Kaylee looked back, still confused.

"So what does this mean?" Kaylee asked.

"I'm a completely different species to you, Kaylee. My species was far more advanced than yours and had a completely different culture. I'm more than 20 times your age. We would have a lot stacked against us." Kaylee's head dropped into her hands. Her head jerked up.

"You're 20 times older than me?"

"I'm 472 years old."

"Ok, we do have a lot stacked against us. But how do you feel about me?" She muttered through her hands.

"Honestly? He loved you, Kaylee. He may have been terrified at the thought of telling you, but it was there. It was real. I can feel it and because of that, I feel a great deal of fondness for you. I'm sorry, but I'm not in love with you. You don't really know me anymore. Do you think you could go through all that again? I'd like to try, but it's a lot more work for you. It will be a lot of work for both of us. We come from two completely different cultures and will likely have a lot of misunderstandings to overcome."

"I don't know. You're an alien now. I need some time to think about this. Can you even be in a relationship with a human? Are we even compatible anymore?" Her eyes widened at the possibility. She looked at him as he smiled.

"Yes, we are compatible physically. Those parts of me won't be that different from what you're already familiar with." He laughed when she blushed.

~`~`~`~ Change of scene ~`~`~`~

"Doctor, what was that about?" Martha asked. The Doctor was still in his silent tinker mode. Donna had gone to make tea. Martha had the task of getting him to open his mouth.

"What was what about?"

"That fight. You just got your son back. I know that there is a mess with your daughter, but your kids! They're alive. Why aren't you happy?" She asked. He slowly turned around and looked at her. Slowly, a smile formed on his face.

"I am happy, Martha. I'm still in shock. Sure, me and him are fighting, but he's really here." He wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back and noticed how tense he still was. Donna chose this moment to bring in the tea.

"Ah, tea! Lovely! Donna, have I told you today how brilliant you are?"

"Oh, stop. Instead of going on about me you can tell us what's going on between you and Doctor Jr." The Doctor looked at her in confusion. Donna giggled and made a motion towards the door. He turned and looked before looking back at her, still confused. Martha started laughing.

"Drash, Doctor." She said inbetween giggles. His features instantly turned from confusion to humor. There was a flash of sadness that was almost missed by the women as they watched him.

"Oh, him. It's old problems. We stopped getting along as he got older. It's nothing worth rehashing. I think I'm done in here. How's about we see what's going on in _Serenity_'s kitchen? I'm starving." He put down the teacup. There was a mad dash to the door. He grabbed his coat and opened the door, only noticing at that moment that neither woman was behind him. Both of them had their arms crossed and were glaring at him.

"What? It's old family issues. He broke ties with me. We didn't get along. He disowned me. That's all. There were words said that now can be mended. We just have to find my daughter's ship. Now, can we eat?"

"He broke ties with you?" Martha asked. "Why would he do that? You're his father."

"It's a long story and I really don't think now is the time to talk about it. Once we find the ship and restore my daughter, maybe." Before he could continue, River entered the TARDIS.

Zoe was sitting at the table in the kitchen, mulling over the information that she had received in the last half hour. It was a lot to take in. If you had asked her this morning if she believed in aliens, she would have smiled and then hit you over the head with her gun. Only crazy people believed in aliens. She smiled sadly in her mug of tea. Wash would have loved this. At this moment, if her husband were alive, he would have stayed in that _ling lei _ship and ask the Doctor a million questions about himself. He probably would have gotten himself kicked out for asking inappropriate questions. She would have bet all the platinum she had that it would be the tentacle question that would get him kicked out.

"Hey, Zoe. Where have you been? " Jayne walked into the room and grabbed some protein out of the cupboard. He sat down at the table across from her. It suddenly hit her that Jayne wasn't around for the big reveal, so to speak. She suddenly had no idea what to say to him.

At that moment, Drash appeared in the doorway. He gave her a look that made her wonder if he read her mind. After all, the Captain did mention that he thought The Doctor could read minds. He smirked at her and she shrugged.

"Hello Jayne." He said. Jayne looked up and smiled at him.

"How's it goin'? Sorry 'bout them drawers, Doc. Couldn't find the tape again. You should just set it out where people can find it."

"That is fine. Hey, Jayne? You want to arm wrestle?" He smirked at Zoe, who looked at him like he was insane. Jayne smiled and pointed at the two of them.

"You and me? _Ni feng liao?_ I could break that pretty arm, Doc. You need both your arms." He leered at him.

"Don't call me Doc. C'mon. It will be fun. Just a harmless game." He came and sat next to Zoe. Jayne held out his arm. Drash did the same. Zoe just watched.

"Why's your arm so cold?" Jayne asked. Drash just smiled.

At first, nothing seemed to be happening. Jayne looked shocked that Simon could actually hold his own. Then, suddenly, his arm hit the ground. It was so quick that Jayne had no idea what had happened for a few seconds. Then he looked up at Simon to see him smirking at him.

"Wait…what just happened here?" Jayne looked from Drash's arm, to his face, and back to the arm.

"I'm an alien, Jayne. And so is River and The Doctor. I thought you'd like to know in a way that even you would understand. I'm a lot stronger than you now." Jayne just sat there, staring.

"Wait, so how did you win? I was at full strength. How is that possible?" Jayne asked. Drash sighed and rolled his eyes at Zoe. He got up and walked out of the room.

Zoe finished drinking her tea and got up from the table. Jayne was still sitting there, staring at his own arm. She cleaned up the kitchen, watching Jayne out of the corner of her eye. He didn't move in all of the ten minutes she spent cleaning. Just as she was leaving the room, she was startled by him shouting.

"_Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gai si._ Zoe, they're gorram aliens!"

~`~`~`~ Change of scene ~`~`~`~

River went up to the blue box. She didn't understand. It was calling to her. But it was a box. How could it call to her? When she touched it, she felt the hum of the engine. It was beautiful. She's felt that before, she's sure of it. The song was hers. She knew that song. The memory is forbidden though. Locked away to never exist.

She went to the door and noticed that it was open. She walked in to see the Storm staring at her in shock. She looked around the console room and saw Donna and Martha also staring at her in shock. She silently wished people would stop looking at her like that. After she looked her fill, her eyes fell on The Doctor.

"It's smaller on the outside." She stated. He looked at her for a moment, and then smiled sadly.

"Yes, it is. You know, I can't recall anyone ever putting it like that before." River walked up to him and gave him a good onceover. He didn't back off, but didn't seem comfortable having her that close.

"I know you."

"Yes, you do. I'm The Doctor. I'm traveling on the ship that you pilot, River. We're friends." Her hand came up and rested on his forehead. She felt his entire face as though she was feeling his features, which she probably was.

"No. Not friends. I know you. But not like this. Same insides, different outsides, like a costume. Or a disguise. Everything changes, they say, but he's still the same. But are you? What defines you? And this ship, I know this ship. It's calling to me, but I can't help her. I can't help anyone. What am I? What happened to my brother? He's gone. I know he's here, but he's gone. You took him from me and I want him back!" She launched herself into his arms and sobbed. The Doctor held her and they sunk to the ground. Martha had a sickening lurch in her stomach when she recognized their positions. He was holding her like he held Jenny as she died. The same way he held The Master as he died. Losing one daughter only to gain a broken one. It just wasn't fair! At least he has his son, she thought. A son who seems to hate him, but a son nonetheless.

"_Kui'La_, it's all going to be ok. He's still your brother. He's just changed. We're going to help you, eh? Don't you worry." River stared up at him, confused. Then her back arched as she screamed.

"Londinium! They took my girl to Londinium with their hands of blue. They can't fly! I won't let them! They can't have her. Don't understand, can't comprehend. Why do they do this? What's happening? Why didn't you save me? You said you would always come, and you didn't'." She cried. The Doctor put his hands on her temple. She gasped in relief and went to sleep. He picked her up and carried her out of the TARDIS. Donna and Martha followed behind him. He carried her to her room and went to find Mal. He passed by Jayne, who stared at him in bewilderment as he passed. As soon as they passed, The Doctor could have sworn he heard a Buddhist prayer come from Jayne's lips. That was strange, but he moved on.

The Captain was found on the bridge. Drash and Zoe were there as well. They were laughing because Drash had just shared his story with Mal. They looked up as the trio entered. Both Drash and The Doctor closed their eyes for a minute, to the confused looks of everyone else.

"We need to change course." The Doctor said after he took a moment to laugh at what Drash had shared with him. Mal looked at him and smiled.

"Why are we doing that?"

"My sister has had a vision of where they took her ship. Londinium is where we need to be, not Osiris." Drash said.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Donna asked. Drash smiled.

"He just told me." Donna looked at The Doctor.

"Donna, remember the Planet of the Ood? My species is telepathic. I have to touch humans to establish a connection, but I don't have to with another Time Lord. Especially one in my own family." Drash reflexively frowned when he said the word family, but only Martha noticed. Donna was still looking at The Doctor and Mal and Zoe looked at each other in horror.

"Right then. If we have to go to Londinium, then we need a plan. A good, solid plan. Otherwise, we're humped." Mal said.

Chinese translations:

_qiguai di waixing ren diahhua ting_ – Strange alien phone booth

_Wuo de ma_ – Mother of Jesus

_Ling lei_ – weird

_Ni feng liao?_ – Are you insane?

_Tian xiz shou you de ren dou gai si_: Fuck everyone in the universe to death.


	8. The Plan

A/N: I've had a reviewer say that they don't like when authors leave the translations at the end of a chapter. Therefore, this chapter will have the translations right after as an experiment. Let me know which you guys prefer. Also, this story has had a complete change in plot that occurred overnight, so I apologize for the delay in updates (as though I haven't had one of those before…eek!)

Chapter 8- The Plan

Once the destination was set for Londinium, everyone moved to the kitchen to make plans for how they were going to get the ship back and return River to her true consciousness as Hana. Inara was making tea when everyone bustled in. Kaylee, now in the loop and feeling a little better, got Inara clued in to everything that had been going on.

Mal went and got Jayne, who really didn't want to be in the same room as them aliens. When he was told in no uncertain terms that he would have to be there for the planning of the newest suicide mission, he made sure to sit as far away from those two as possible.

"The first thing that we have to do is find out where Hana's ship is on the planet." Drash said. He came in from the TARDIS. He got all the information he could get on Londinium and potential buildings Hana's ship could be stored in.

"Is there a way for us to figure that out before landing? We have to register and be cleared for landing on Londinium and there is no way the Alliance will let this ship land. They would shoot us before we got anywhere near planet side." Zoe said.

"Get us as close as we can to Londinium and I should be able to use the TARDIS to locate the ship." The Doctor replied.

"And once we do? Launching an assault on an Alliance building is plain suicide. We're going to get ourselves killed before we even see the front door." Jayne said.

"I might be able to create a distraction depending on what building it is." Inara said. "Seeing as I'm the most respectable person here."

"I can bypass a lot of the security with my psychic paper. That way we don't have to fight anyone. I just won't be able to bring you in to pilot the ship, Drash. You're a fugitive now."

"Psychic paper? You have a paper that can read my mind?" Jayne asked. He backed even farther from The Doctor, which was apparently possible.

"Well, it's one thing to have psychic paper. It's quite another to have a gun in a man's face. That's got more authority, I think." Mal stated. The Doctor frowned at him. Sensing an argument, Inara got up and moved away from the men and Zoe. Donna, Martha, and Kaylee followed. Zoe watched them and laughed inwardly. She got ready to intervene if needed.

"I would just prefer to not have any bloodshed if we can help it."

"Me neither, but I'm not going to have false hope that this ain't gonna get bloody."

"I suppose. But we should keep the bloodshed at a minimum."

"Define minimum."

"No more than necessary."

"Ok, I can live with that."

"You know, I would have expected a giant testosterone fight between the two of them, but they seem to be compromising just fine." Inara stated.

"Well, you wouldn't see one regardless. My species don't produce testosterone, so that chemical won't play in to any arguments." Drash said as he walked up to the spectators. Kaylee smiled at him and he smiled back.

"So, then this thing between you and him has nothing to do with testosterone?" Martha asked.  
"Thing? There is not a 'thing' going on between us. We don't get along and honestly he's the last person that I want around me. We parted ways a long time ago."

"We may not have that 'Time Lord' brain you lot keep going on about, but I know when someone's arguing in circles, mate." Donna said. Drash narrowed his eyes at her with a look of…distaste? Anger? Donna couldn't really tell. Both her and Martha were having a hard time reading Drash.

"We haven't spoken in over 200 years. If I weren't dependant on him helping me save Hana, I would be more than happy to have kept the record going."

"But the rest of your species is dead. Shouldn't that change things? Doesn't that make you want to put water under the bridge?" Martha asked.

"I'm going to assume that putting water under some bridge is a human colloquialism for relationships somehow. But where do you come off, telling me how my relationship with him should be? Exactly how long have you known me? Exactly what do you know about relationships between my people? When was the last time your entire species died out? Oh, no wait. It hasn't. Don't stand there and make me the bad guy because my father is your friend."

"Is it because of your daughter?" Donna asked.

"Well, yes and no. Exactly how much do you know about my father? About his life on Gallifrey?"

"Almost nothing."

"That's what I thought. Maybe we shouldn't be having this conversation. You don't know anything about what kind of father he was or what kind of person he is."

"Drash, maybe you should consider mending things. He's your father. You only get one. Right? You only have one father, _zheng di_ (right)?" Kaylee asked. Drash smiled.

"Yes, I only have one father. I also had a mother. It's only by chance, I suppose. Our species didn't produce children naturally so sexes didn't matter where parents are concerned."

"What was your mother like?" Kaylee asked.

"She was a good mother. I had everything I needed as a child. We got along pretty well."

"Did your parents get on as well?" Martha asked. Drash laughed.

"Are you kidding? Why do you think he ran from our planet? The Council took him from the mate he chose for himself and forced him into another marriage with my mother because they thought she would be more suited for him."

"That's not why she was chosen for me." The Doctor said. He looked up at the group that suddenly looked incredibly guilty. Everyone was listening to Drash's story instead of making up a plan at this point anyway.

"Oh? Then, please enlighten us." Drash said sarcastically. Donna could definitely pick out sarcasm.

"She was chosen for me because of Hana. Hana is too powerful of a telepath. I would have a guess that she was one of the strongest telepaths that Gallifrey has ever seen. They figured if we were to have more children like her, that together we would all overthrow the rest of the Time Lords and rule the planet. So, they handed me over to your mother to settle me down and remind me of my place."

"What happened to your…" Donna started. A dark look from The Doctor stopped that sentence dead. She may have seen The Doctor look scary before, but she had never seen a look like that directed at her before. It was terrifying.

"I want to know what happened between the two of you." Martha interrupted. Drash and The Doctor glared at each other for a moment. They seemed to be arguing in their heads, before The Doctor gestured for Drash to speak.

"When I graduated from the Time Lord Academy, I wanted to be on the Council. It's the political government of Gallifrey. I was qualified, but I couldn't get a chair on the Council. When I was up for review after 50 consecutive years of being denied, I was told that my relationship with him was affecting my success."

"Why would The Doctor be bad for your success? He's your father. What did he do?"

"He was considered a renegade. He stole that TARDIS and was exiled. Then he kidnapped my daughter."

"I didn't kidnap her! She stowed aboard!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"She was a child! You should have brought her back."

"I was exiled. I couldn't go back!"

"Oi! How about you two calm down!" Donna yelled. The two were nose to nose. Jayne tried to come between them, but he wasn't strong enough.

"You ruined my life! Your name blacklisted our entire family! Why did you shame our family by breaking every rule that you learned?" Drash exclaimed.

"There was a human philosopher named Parker Palmer. He said that no punishment could be worse than the one we inflict on ourselves by living a divided life. I couldn't just sit there and be one of them. That's not who I am. That's not who I wanted to be. All they wanted was to sit back and watch the universe flow by instead of going out and embracing it. They couldn't be a part of it. They could only be outside of it. It's no way to live."

"And you couldn't stand to let anyone else in your family be accepted either! I kept getting denied because I had 'bad blood.' They figured that at least one of my regenerations would be like you. I cut ties with you and still they wanted nothing to do with me! Hana sided with you and look what it got her? She got kicked out of the Time Lord Academy and ended up a broken, insane human." Drash threw up his hands and walked out of the room. Kaylee followed after him. Everyone turned to look at The Doctor. He looked heartbroken for a moment before turning back to look at the map of Londinium. He got his glasses out for a closer look.

"If the Alliance has even a small clue on what the ship is, it's going to be in one of these five buildings. Each is a military building. The ship will be camouflaged so they may not even really know what it is. If Hana kept the door closed, they cannot get in."

~`~`~ Change of Scene ~`~`~

River had a blessed few minutes of sleep before waking up suddenly. She wasn't sure what had happened, but she felt better rested. She stretched before getting up. Slowly she made her way to the bridge. This was her area. She sat down at the helm and watched the stars pass by. The stars were always soothing. Sighing, she put her feet up on the helm (making sure not to push any buttons that would bring the crew to certain doom) and rubbed her locket. Then, she smiled and turned around to see Donna making her way up to her.

"Hello, Donna. Why aren't you with the others? What time is it?" Donna smiled in response and sat down near her. River felt her eyes move to the locket she was still caressing and proceeded to let go of it.

"What, and hear them making all the plans? No thanks. It's late. Don't you have a watch?"

"I don't like watches. There are too many rules of time for me to memorize, so I don't wear a watch. Everyone else wears a watch, so I can always ask." River replied with a dreamy tone.

"Is that a locket?" River swiveled in her chair to face Donna.

"Yes. It has a picture of Simon and me in it from before."

"Why were you rubbing it?" Donna asked. She had a suspicious tone in her voice that River didn't like.

"It's nothing. A nervous habit. A pattern of action that is acquired from a psychological trauma and is hard to break. When Simon saved me, he had it in his possession and I was so happy to have it and the other trinkets he managed to take." While Donna seemed to accept the answer, River didn't like the way she continued to stare at it.

"Can I see the picture?" She asked. River tensed up and wrapped her hand around the locket.

"No. It's mine. It's all I have that is only for me, and you can't have it. They took everything from me, but this is mine alone. You shouldn't be here. _Gei wo yigeren_. (Leave me alone)"

"Love, is it…broken?" Donna asked. She put her hand on River's leg. River grabbed the hand and shoved it away from her. She stood up and put her hands in the air.

"Why does it have to be broken for it to be mine? Everything is broken. My locket is not broken. It opens. Even if it didn't, it wouldn't have to open for me to know what it contains. _Wo dapo liao_.(I'm broken). I have fought so long for my mind. The voices cannot have it! How do you get unbroken, Donna? You did it. You loved that man, the man who was going to marry you. You barely knew him, but you loved him. When he betrayed you, you broke. What do you do?" She threw herself on her knees, tears falling down her face. She cried into her hands. Donna got up and cradled River, shushing her like she would a child. While it scared her to no end that this girl just read her mind, she felt it best to comfort her.

"I don't know how everyone gets unbroken, sweetheart. Some cry, some drink, some throw themselves into more trouble to ignore it all. As for me, I got angry. I spent a month in a gym beating a punching bag until I was able to cry. Then, I realized how dumb I was in turning The Doctor down. After that, I spent all my time trying to find him until I did."

"Can't get the voices to stop. They quiet down sometimes, but they never stop. Like your friend. He stops for nothing. Even when you stop, he will continue on." River stated. Donna gasped.

"What do you see?" River straightened up, anger flashing in her eyes.

"You can't just turn it on and stick me full of stuff and ask me what I see! I'm not an experiment! There is no hypothesis and no data…"

"Oi, calm down! I'm not pumping you full of anything! I just asked, is all. No need to go all Crazy Girl on me." River giggled at Donna's grumbling.

"You and The Doctor make a good match."

"We're not a couple."

"I never said that you were. So sad, the things that will come to pass…"

~`~`~`~ Change of scene ~`~`~`~

"So, how are we going to get your spaceship off _Serenity_ in order for you to fly it to Londinum? For that matter, how are you going to get the Tardic to Londinium without the proper clearance?" Jayne asked.

"TARDIS. It's called the T-A-R-D-I-S. Honestly, I thought humans got smarter as time goes on." The Doctor sniffed, honestly offended. Martha stifled a laugh. It was fun to see his reaction to them mispronouncing the name.

"Are you saying that we are re-TARDIS?" Mal asked. The Doctor scowled while everyone else burst out laughing.

"Change of subject. We won't have to get the TARDIS off your ship. Stop it!" He said to Mal and Jayne, who started laughing when he said TARDIS. "To oversimplify how it works, my ship disappears here and reappears there. It's superior to whatever your Alliance has, so it shouldn't show up on any radar. It may get noticed if there are people around."

"How long will it take for your ship to 'reappear?' How fast does it go?" Zoe asked. She was still looking through some blueprints for a plan of attack.

"There is no delay. It travels in time as well." Zoe's head snapped up and a strange look took over her face.

"A time machine? You're telling me that not only do you have an alien spaceship, but that it is also a time machine?" Mal asked.

"Yes. I'm from Earth. The 21st century. I'm a military doctor from England. Hence my accent." Martha replied. She rifled through her pocket and pulled out her identification, showing it to Mal.

"You're from Earth-That-Was?" Jayne asked. "The Earth-That-Was?"

"It's just Earth in my day, but yes." Martha replied.

"So, all we have to do is land your ship wherever they crash landed before the feds took it away, right? Why worry about the Alliance at all?" Mal smiled at his brilliant plan. Well, until The Doctor frowned at him.

"We can't do that. We are part of events now."

"What's the point of a spaceship that travels through time if you can't travel through time?" Mal asked.

"It's hard to explain why I can't do that. I know what I can meddle with and what I cannot. It's just what I am."

"Just what you are? Sounds like a load of _fel hua_ (bull shit) to me. You just don't want to reveal to us the 'magic' of time travel." Jayne replied.

"Some things can change. Some things cannot. That's all there is to it. We can't do it. End of story. We can, however, get back to this plan…" The Doctor went back to look at the schematics of a military building. Martha gently tapped his shoulder. He looked over at her.

"What?"

"Now I'm worried about you. Seriously." Martha said.

"Why?"

"You just let an opportunity to talk about science slip through your fingers."

The Doctor just frowned again as Martha chuckled.

A/N: Again, let me know which way you prefer the translations. I can do it either way! :)


	9. A Better Plan

A/N: Ok, yes…..it's been a long time. I've not died; I've had a lot of things going on and a tough internship to contend with. Updates will not be regular and may be as bad as this (although I'm going to try to do better next time) but this story WILL get finished. There will not be a permanent hiatus. I'm so sorry you guys. Also, I would usually give this one more lookover, but you've waited long enough. Please excuse any mistakes and let me know if you find any that are horrific and I will fix them. On with the story!

His walk was still the same. Kaylee felt a wide range of emotions when she noticed his familiar gait. On one hand, it was nice to see him doing something human again. Ever since he "became" Drash, she didn't really know what to think of him. Everything else that was Simon was gone. He looked basically the same on the outside; she would give you that. But he carried himself differently, had different facial expressions, talked differently, and had completely different mannerisms. This was who the man she loved had become. It was confusing because Simon wasn't there. But this….man? Could she call him a man? This…person who took over Simon's body had feelings for her and wants to try and have what her and Simon had. What does she want? Shouldn't she be grieving for Simon? He was still mostly a stranger to her now. This was a really _qíguài di kuàng_ she got herself into. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice he had stopped walking until he spoke.

"So, how much further will you be following me?" Drash turned around to smile at her. She smiled back sheepishly.

"My plan was to follow you until you stopped. Then I was going to cleverly suss out whether or not you wanted company. Where are you headed, anyhow?"

"The TARDIS."

"Can I come?" Kaylee barely allowed him to finish. Ever since she set foot on that ship she was itching to get back in. Not enough to go in willy-nilly without an invitation, but she wasn't about to let an opportunity pass her by. Drash laughed at her eager expression and then winced and rubbed his temples.

"Are you ok?" Kaylee went to put her hand on his face before hesitating. Drash grabbed her hand before she could bring it back down and held it. Then he tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"Yes to both. I would love for you to join me and I'm ok. Just….well… headache isn't really the best term for it, but it's the best I've got. It's more a telepathic echo rebounding since I've been sent back into my body."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You understood that?" He gave her a strange look.

"Not a word past headache." He laughed and they walked together into the TARDIS. Both sighed once they passed the threshold. Drash's sigh was one of relief; Kaylee's was one of wonder.

Drash sat in the pilot's seat and smiled wistfully as he watched Kaylee. He knew why he was drawn to her while he was Simon. She was so straightforward and honest. It made her easy to read. She took things in stride, even when they were alien to her. She didn't waste time hiding her emotions behind stoicism as his own people did. It was refreshing and appealing. She was nothing like his family.

He was very fond of his wife. He missed her calming presence and easy wit. He felt a hole in one of his hearts when he thought of Susan. She was lost too soon. Seeing his older sister narrowly escaping the same fate that he knew fell upon his mother, wife, and only child was heart wrenching. The sound of Hana's screaming gradually turning to a groaning until she could only mouth out her pain was unbearable. She was still partially on fire when he pulled her in. The few minutes after she had stopped thrashing around and before she started regenerating from the tall brunette with tanned skin he had known almost his whole life into who she was now were some of the longest of his life. Then Gallifrey fell and the blaring silence that followed left a pounding in his head that he had to get used to all over again. It was settled somewhat by the presence of the TARDIS and his father, but it would take time.

Watching Kaylee openly admiring a piece of his past (was he EVER going to fix that chameleon circuit?) did something to him. He wasn't sure what this sunny human being had done to him, but he sure as Hell wasn't going to let her go.

"Are you feeling better?" Kaylee walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"A little."

"Good. Now tell me how this all works. I want to know everything!"

"If you want to know everything, you are going to have to wait for Hana to tell you. I know basic maintenance and how to get where I need to go, but she used to grow TARDISes. She knew them inside and out." He felt a stab of worry coming from the TARDIS when he said Hana's name. He sent her a soothing thought but got the feeling he was forgetting something. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaylee frown and pat the console like she was comforting it.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She pulled her hand back and looked at him with wide eyes.

"I don't know. She seems nervous or sad, so I was just…" She looked nervous as though she expected him to reprimand her.

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know how I know. I just do. Machines just talk to me. I told you that. She's way more talkative and clearer than _Serenity_, but I'm guessing it's an alien thing or because she's- why are you looking at me like that?" Drash was giving her a look. If he were still Simon, she would know that look. That was his "I want you" look.

"Looking at you like what?" He smirked at her with eyes alight. The smile grew as she blushed and broke eye contact.

"Like you're the most amazing woman I've ever met?" He tilted her chin so she was forced to look at him.

"That's a bit much. You're over 400 years old. Most amazing? I'm just a mechanic."

"Just a…Kaylee, humans in your time period don't even notice telepathic messages or signals unless they have some telepathic ability. Most people don't even notice the TARDIS's presence. Even then, it's usually just a tickle in the brain. You…you are _Vrayda'Eupaet_." He stared at her for a moment. Kaylee was speechless, even if she didn't know what he had just called her. She had no idea how to respond, but he fixed that. He kissed her. It was completely different from their other kisses, when he was still human. Even so, it was perfect. Then River walked in.

"_Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wai shung._" Kaylee muttered as Drash laughed.

"Can we continue this later?" Drash asked quietly.

"Try and stop me. Just a hint: telling me how great I am and how the TARDIS works is a guaranteed way to get in my pants." Kaylee winked as Drash nodded and kissed her forehead.

~`~`~ Change of Scene ~`~`~

"How much longer until we know where this ship is? This is kind of a _feiwu_ plan until we know what building we're trying to break into." Mal said. There were quite a few buildings they thought the Alliance would put an alien spaceship. The headquarters of the Ministry of Intelligence was Mal's first choice. Hopefully he was wrong. He was trying to move the conversation back into making a plan. Jayne was eating something he had grabbed in the kitchen. Zoe was going back and forth between looking at her hands and darting looks at The Doctor. The Doctor was…well who knows what he was doing. The man was an alien after all.

"Hopefully not too much longer. We don't have to be on the planet for my ship to be able to scan for it, but we have to be pretty close. I'll have to check with the TARDIS and I can…" he trailed off when they heard stomping getting closer before slowing to a walk five feet from the doorway. Everyone stopped and looked at the doorway to see Donna calmly walk through the door as though she wasn't just running as fast as she could.

"Oy, Spaceman. Can I borrow you for just one second?" She huffed. The Doctor nodded and followed her out the door. Mal and Jayne waited a good ten seconds before moving as close as possible to eavesdrop. Zoe just stared at her hands.

"What's going on?"

"The Time Lord thing that changes you to human. Does it have to be a watch?" Donna asked.

"All the chameleon arches I've seen use that format. And it's not a watch, Donna. It just looks like a watch. It's telepathically linked and holds our consciousness. It doesn't tell you the time. I mean, if it were something else the same size or so that could hold the-"

"So, no then?" Donna interrupted what could have been an hour-long explanation.

"It would be very rare, but I suppose if someone wanted to use something else, there is a way to do it."

"River is wearing a locket. She's very protective of it and she freaked out when I asked her to open it. Could it be more than just a locket?" Donna asked. The Doctor's eyes went wide and he sprinted towards the TARDIS without a word. Donna followed him. Jayne and Mal went back to sitting at the kitchen table. Zoe still hadn't moved.

"You've been awful quiet, Zoe," Mal said.

"Not quiet, sir. Just thinking." Zoe replied.

"What about?"

"He said his ship travels in time." She finally looked up from her hands. She thought about nothing else since The Doctor had said that.

"Zoe-"

"I know. He died so quickly. But what if there's a way to have him here?" Zoe put her head in her hands and took a long breath. Mal moved over to sit by her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I thought about asking too." Zoe looked up from her hands.

"You did?"

"Yeah. Especially since it seems that Doctor fellow is going to be taking my doctor and pilot with him when he leaves. It would be nice to only have to replace-ow! Did you just kick me? That is very unbecoming of a woman your age."

"My bad, Cap'n" came the muffled reply of Jayne through his mouthful of food. He quickly swallowed the rest and stood up from the table.

"Can we follow them now?"

"Absolutely."

~`~`~`~ Change of scene ~`~`~`~

"What are you doing in here?" River asked the couple. Without waiting for an answer, she walked straight to Drash. The smirk on his face disappeared when he looked at his sister. Her hands held his face while she stared into his eyes.

"You're not Simon anymore."

"No."

"Yet, you are still my brother. _Nǐ hùnxiáole wǒ_. How are you both?" Her hands went to his temples. After a second, she yelped and jumped away. Drash went to her and she flinched away from him, grabbing her head.

"River, everything is going to be ok."

"No, it's not. It won't be, until it stops. The singing box and the yelling in my head. _Zhè shì shénshèng de míngchēng. _You told me that it would get better, but it's just getting worse. Who are you? Either of you? I know your faces. You know me, but that was not my face when you saw me. That wasn't my face! I don't understand." The door opened and The Doctor and Donna walked in, followed by Martha and Inara who saw them running and followed. Mal, Zoe, and Jayne brought up the rear. River turned around to look at them and noticed The Doctor staring at her neck. Her hand went to her locket and she turned back around, pulling the locket off of her neck, and held it out to Drash.

"Why are you handing this to me, River?" Drash asked as she put her locket in his hand. He turned it over and then looked at her tearstained face.

"I trust you with my life. If you say this is what's best for me, I believe you. I don't understand but you need this if you want to find what was lost." She closed her eyes. Slowly a smile spread across her face and she started swaying her hips. Kaylee looked at Drash, who looked confused.

"What's going on?" Inara asked. River opened her eyes and smiled.

"Can you hear her singing? It's so beautiful." The Doctor smiled at her and nodded.

"What's in it?" he asked. Drash shook his head and looked at it.

"Not sure." He turned it back to the front side and opened the locket.

The locket was a little bigger on the inside. There were no pictures or any writing inside. Instead, there was a sliver of something the length of a toothpick and twice as thick. It was light blue in color and there seemed to be some sort of light emanating from it. Drash took it out of the locket to examine it.

"River, I don't understand. How will this help us find what was lost?" Drash asked. River grabbed the toothpick-shaped thing and placed it on the TARDIS's scanner. Instantly it came to life. The Doctor laughed as Drash immediately worked on the scanner.

"You clever girl! How did you get so smart?" He hugged her and twirled her around.

"It's a piece of her TARDIS. With this, we can track the location of her ship without having to be so close to Londinium."

"Which means we don't have to risk the Alliance noticing our ship. I like this plan already." Jayne said. Everyone nodded their agreement.

"I've got it! It's in the Alliance Intelligence Agency building. On the third floor. That's all she can do here. Once we materialize we should be able to sense her."

"_Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze fuh ur-tze_! Couldn't you have told us that it was in the art museum? I was really hoping it was going to be in the art museum!" Mal moaned. Then he sprang into action.

"River, get us to a planet so we can land somewhere safe. Since we know where this ship is, we don't have to get any closer to Londinium then we are now. Everyone else, we have to figure out a way to get in and out without getting ourselves killed." River left the TARDIS and headed to the bridge. Everyone else went to the kitchen to discuss a better plan.

"Is there no way to materialize close enough to get the exact location and then materialize around the ship? Then we don't even have to interact with anyone." Martha suggested.

"Won't the first landing tip them off? They could attack us and I don't want to only be protected by wood. Even if it is alien wood." Jayne replied.

"It's designed to look like wood. They shouldn't have the capabilities to harm this ship. The problem is we can't surround a TARDIS with another TARDIS. Not with only two Timelords driving. It's too difficult." Drash drummed his fingers on the table as he thought allowed.

"Are you planning on towing the other TARDIS with this one?" Kaylee asked.

"If at all possible, yes. I'm not sure if we will have the time to find Hana's watch." The Doctor answered.

"Not to mention some priceless items from a planet that no longer exists happen to be on that ship." Donna added.

"Someone will have to be in each TARDIS to connect them. So really we only need one or two of us to get from one ship to the other. Without our large numbers, we won't be as suspicious. All we really need then is to get into her ship, right?"

"Right, but I'm going to need help with her ship. I'm not sure how damaged it is and could use an extra set of hands on that side." The Doctor explained.

"We will need some way to distract them from noticing the TARDIS arriving. It won't go unnoticed." Inara mentioned.

"It's an Intelligence Agency, so they have military or government agents there, right? I could go with you for a surprise health exam for the employees on the third floor. We should find out what's on the third floor." Martha offered.

"So, we land outside and get the location of the ship. You two leave and cause a distraction. Let us know when we can land the TARDIS. Me and Jayne will cover Drash if we have the time. You should know how to find the watch thing, right?" Mal looked at Drash.

"I have a few ideas. Donna and Kaylee can help me on this end if we don't have the time." Drash looked at Kaylee and Donna. They both nodded.

"I can watch River and try to keep her calm in here." Inara stated.

"I'll stay with Serenity. I know you said you can have us back in no time, but I don't like the idea of leaving her defenseless." Zoe said.

"Good. Let's see if River's found us a place to land." With that, everyone left and Drash and Kaylee were alone again. Kaylee fiddled at the console while an awkward silence fell between them.

"You know, I used to have a bedroom on this ship when I was younger." Drash stated. Kaylee startled and her face turned red as she turned back at him. She quickly recovered and gave him a flirtatious smile when she saw the look on his face.

"Didja now? Do you think we could find it?"

"I believe we could, if we looked hard enough." He leered at her and leaned in. She looked him up and down as though she were weighing the options before laughing and fusing her mouth to his.


	10. Inspector Gadget

A/N: What? An update less than a year apart?! This can't be! Well, it is. Despite all the writer's block I've had on this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, there is an obscure book reference I have made in this chapter. I'm wondering if anyone will pick it up. Let me know if you do!

Words to the reviewers:  
mikafan17: Thanks for the compliments as well as the commiseration on finishing things! I have every plan on finishing this story up, so don't worry. It just may take time. :)  
BooklvrAnnie (sorry ff won't let me put the period in your name) and badkidoh- Thanks for taking the time to review. I'm glad you both are enjoying it!  
88mouse88- I agree. Donna is sorely misrepresented in this section of fanfic, especially since I think she would fit in well with the Firefly group.  
Shara Raizel- Yes, it's an update! Sheesh, lay off my back woman! hahahaha Well, I find Drash and Kaylee's relationship interesting, but I've never been good at writing romance, so I tend to shy away from it in big chunks. Last chapter was my biggest foray ever and it seemed to go ok. And c'mon, you know how well Mal's plans tend to work. And The Doctor's. (This is where you cue the evil laugh)  
darck ben- Thanks for the compliment. And ok. I'll update.  
Guest- Yo! Thanks for reviewing. :)

_"Your mother tells me you are planning to cut ties with me." Drash groaned quietly. He had a feeling his father would be showing up soon. Leave it The Doctor to come into his study during his first quiet hour in the last week. Sighing, he put the book in his hands down and calmly looked up at The Doctor's angry face. It was hard to take him seriously in that ridiculous coat he was wearing._

_ "It's the only way I can move forward in the Council. You should have seen this coming. It's not my fault you dragged us in the dirt by stealing that Type 40 and breaking almost every rule we stand for. And thanks for showing up 15 years after I told her. Shows how important I am to you." Drash stood up, walked over to the door behind The Doctor, and shut it. He didn't want this conversation overheard._

_ "You do whatever they say, don't you Drash? This is the problem with the Council. We come up with technology that can make a difference and all you want to do is sit back and watch while bad things happen to good people. Some things need to be stopped! If I'm the only one who can see that, so be it!" The Doctor ran a hand through his blonde curls as he paced back and forth._

_ "Why don't you just stop for a while? If they see you've settled down, we might be able to redeem your status and this conversation will be unnecessary."_

_ "I'm not going to stop traveling just to make them happy. You should go out there, Drash. It's beautiful out in the universe. There are so many good people and exciting things to see. Being cooped up on this planet does nobody any good, especially you. They've forgotten to see the wonders of the universe while they've been cooped up in their little Citadel and I would hate to see you become like them."_

_ "This is why I don't want to be connected to you anymore. You've become so focused on what is wrong with the Council but offer no solutions. Instead, you run away from it. It's bad enough you let Hana walk away from her gift, but now you have to continue this renegade lifestyle? Wasn't the exile enough to show you that you need to grow up?"_

_ "Susan got it. Maybe it skipped a generation."_

_ "Look where it got her; abandoned on a lonely planet without a way to contact her family. You can't even give me the coordinates to bring her home! You're a terrible grandfather as well as a father."_

_ "I don't have to take this. You want to denounce me as your father? Fine. Denounce me."_

Drash startled awake and blearily looked around the room. He hadn't been in here in a long time, but thanks to the TARDIS it didn't take them very long to find it. Kaylee celebrated that fact by pouncing on him the second they crossed the threshold. After thoroughly exhausting themselves, they collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. Drash extricated himself carefully from Kaylee's arms and made his way to the kitchen. He was a little shaken from that memory resurfacing. Cutting his father out of his life wasn't his proudest moment. The Doctor had tried to get in touch around the start of the Time War, but Drash was too busy with the Council and trying to find Susan to bring her home. There was also the fact that he didn't really want to get back in touch.

The lights were on in the kitchen when Drash got there. The Doctor was pouring two mugs of tea when he walked in. He handed one to Drash and they both sat at the table. They sat in a companionable silence while steeping their tea.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier today. I'm not sure why I was so on edge, but it was uncalled for." Drash looked at his hands wrapped around the mug as he spoke.

"I do." He looked up to see The Doctor giving him a sad smile.

"Why?"

"It's the silence. It drives you a little crazy."

"My head has been killing me all day. I'm so used to hearing everyone. Even being in here, it's still ringing in my head. I never knew silence could be so loud."

"You'll get used to it." The Doctor took a long sip of his tea before smiling at Drash. "You can get used to a lot of new things."

"Ah, so you noticed." Drash smirked and leaned back in his seat. He folded his hands on the table.

"Contrary to what people used to say, I'm not blind, Son."

"Do you object, then?" Drash asked. The Doctor frowned.

"Of course not. I want you to be happy. If Kaylee makes you feel happy and loved, then I'm happy. " The Doctor placed his hand on Drash's hand. Drash leaned forward.

"I've never felt this way before. It's terrifying, but I don't want to give it up." The Doctor grinned and patted his hand.

"I'll never ask you to. You deserve love in your life. You need to hold onto it for as long as you can. As terrifying as it can be, it's completely worth it."

"Mother never would have approved. She would be horrified right now."

"Well your mother was unhappy. She wanted you to have a better life than her own. I would hope that she would be happy for you."

"Unhappy? She never seemed unhappy." Drash frowned.

"Well, let me put it this way. Would you want to be paired with someone you didn't like, knowing he was forcibly removed from his partner and that you were his punishment? And to top it off, you had to live with their child and see her everyday."

"I suppose not. Do you regret being paired with her?" Drash asked. The Doctor's eyes widened and he sat back and regarded his son.

"I regret walking away. I was threatened and pressured, but I should have stood up for my family. I regret letting Hana get away with so many things," they both laughed at that, "I regret the way I treated your mother." Drash started at that.

"I resented her for years over what wasn't her fault. She didn't exactly want me, either. At least I had someone respectable. I should have treated her with more respect. Despite all that, I can't regret it all. There wouldn't be you without all of it. You took the best things from both of us. You're adaptable and compassionate like me, but you have that levelheadedness that I never had. You get that from her."

"I'm no Hana."

"Good. One of her is more than enough!"

"Really? You were always closer to her. You kept your distance from me most of my life."

"Well, she was my first child and I was young when we had her. She needed so much more attention with her gift. Plus, she got my impatience. Coupled with that temper she most certainly did not get from me, she was quite the handful. If you were more like her, the two of you might have destroyed everything!" They both laughed.

"I'm not going to oppose what you have. I just want you to make sure that the feelings you have for her are your own and not just the residual feelings from your human side. If they are not your true feelings, it's not fair to her to stay together." The Doctor grabbed Drash's hand and smiled when he didn't recoil. Drash studied their hands and than asked quietly:

"How will I know?"

"You'll know. I used the chameleon arch to escape for a while. My human side fell in love with a human woman." The Doctor's face turned sad.

"What happened?"

"I asked her to come with me. She refused. I was sad about that for a while, but I realized later on that what I was feeling was more guilt and affection than actual love. I wanted to love her, but I didn't."

"Oh." The two of them sat in silence for a moment, commiserating.

"This plan to save Hana. Do you think it will work?" Drash asked.

"I hope so."

"The Academy cut into her brain. What effects will that have on her once we open the watch?"

"I don't know. I hope that when she changes back, there will be no lasting damage."

"And if there is?" The Doctor rubbed his face before answering.

"There's no way to know or plan ahead like you want. Worst-case scenario, she will be unable to function. Best case scenario will be a headache."

"So we force regeneration on her?"

"Yes. Even if they've damaged her brain, she should still be capable of regenerating." Drash sighed.

"I really don't want to cheat her out of this body. She already lost most of her last one from the Time War."

"I agree. Regeneration will be our last resort." The Doctor stood up and brought their cups to the sink. Drash followed him.

"I have just one more question for you." The Doctor turned around.

"Your companion, Martha? Is she 'The' Martha Jones?" Drash asked. The Doctor smiled.

"She is indeed."

"Hana's going to freak out."

The next morning, River landed the TARDIS in a blackout zone on the planet Osiris. Everybody gathered in the kitchen. Ignoring the Doctor's _fawei _look of disapproval, Mal and Jayne were gearing up. Jayne pointedly packed a few grenades. Zoe was picking through her things, deciding on her Winchester. It always worked in a pinch. The Doctor was discussing places on the TARDIS that Inara and River could stay. They opted against staying on _Serenity_ in case The Doctor couldn't locate Hana's TARDIS on foot. River would instinctively know where it was once she walked outside, but that was only in case of an emergency. Donna and Kaylee were discussing their plan of attack. Martha was going through her bag and taking out what might be too old fashioned for a doctor of the time in case somebody looked. Drash was nowhere to be seen.

"Now, everyone clear on the plan? In and out, plain and simple-like. This don't need to be a suicide mission." Mal stated.

"No matter how much it sounds like one," Jayne muttered.

"Where's that son of yours, Doctor?"

"I'm right here." Drash stalked into the kitchen with two clipboards. Each had some paperwork and a plastic card of some sort. He handed one to Martha and one to The Doctor. The Doctor put on his brainy specs and looked it over with a nostalgic smile. Martha scanned the papers quickly and held them up to Drash's face.

"Where did you get these?"

"What are they?" Donna asked.

"It's an official Alliance inspection form. The third floor of the Intelligence Agency is research. A health exam may not work on that floor, so I think being health and safety inspectors is going to work better for you both. There are some modern health regulations for you, Martha. And there is an ID for you both. I also sent a holograph message so that they will be expecting you at the right time."

"How did you do that?" Donna asked. The Doctor started fidgeting. Martha looked at him suspiciously. Drash didn't notice.

"The TARDIS, of course. I used her mainframe to… why are you staring?" Martha and Donna were alternating between gaping at Drash and The Doctor.

"The TARDIS can do that?" Martha asked. Donna just kept gaping at The Doctor.

"She's the best ship in the universe. Of course she can!" The Doctor said automatically before realizing he should have just shut his mouth.

"Best ship in the universe. Were Hana here, she would disagree."

"Well I'm here and I disagree!" Mal added. He smirked as he saw Donna punch The Doctor in the shoulder.

"You idiot! You can waltz in anywhere and actually Belong there?! Why don't you do that?" The Doctor cringed.

"Well, I don't go to specific events to change them. Plus, where would the fun be with all that planning?" The Doctor grinned at them.

"I'd rather have a plan when it comes to rescuing family." Drash said as he crossed his arms. The Doctor's grin faded and he nodded. Then he clapped his hands.

"Right! Let's get onto the TARDIS!" He led the group out. Only Mal and Zoe were left.

"Zoe, the ship is yours." Mal smiled at her and turned to follow the group out.

"She'll be here when you get back, Sir." Mal stopped in his tracks.

"Are you gonna ask him?"

"I'm going to consider it, Sir." Mal nodded and continued onto the TARDIS.

Zoe remained in the kitchen until she heard the TARDIS' engine as they left. Then she slowly made her way to the bridge. For the first time, she walked in alone. She sat in the pilot's chair, looking around and glanced at the dinosaurs. She bit her lip to hold her tears back. She rubbed her stomach as she did a quick scan for anything around _Serenity_. Seeing that there were no people around to witness (or break into the ship), she finally let the tears out that she had been holding for weeks. They weren't just tears for Wash. They were also tears for the child they created.

Break Break Break

"Ok, this is where Martha and I get off." The Doctor stated. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Let me know when you know where it is and a place we can materialize." Drash went over to the monitor to confirm that nobody's suspicions were aroused by their appearance. It seemed all was quiet, so he nodded to The Doctor and Martha. They grabbed their clipboards and cheerfully walked out the door, arm in arm.

"So, now what?" Mal asked. Drash looked up from where he was watching The Doctor and Martha approach the headquarters to see Mal fidgeting with his gun.

"We are going to wait for them to contact us. Martha is going to send a message to that cellular phone regarding the best place for us to land the TARDIS. I'm waiting to make sure that they get through ok, which they now have. So, you two can stand down until we have to leave. I'm going to go check in on Inara and River and make sure she's ok being in here again." With that, Drash left the console room. Everyone's attention went to Donna, who was holding The Doctor's cell phone in her hand.

"What? It's not going to ring just because you stare at it."

"Ring? What does that mean?" Jayne asked. Donna stared.

"What does ring mean? It will make a beeping noise to alert us that Martha has contacted us. Were you raised by wolves?"

"Yup. Big nasty ones."

Drash headed to the library. The Doctor thought River might be more at ease there and had suggested that Inara take her there first. He also pointed out Hana's room in case River wandered in, the kitchen, the pool, and the Zero Room in case she couldn't handle the TARDIS anymore. When he walked in, he saw Inara sitting at a table, reading. River was lying on a couch in front of a fire blazing in the fireplace. They both looked up when he came in.

"Just wanted to see how things are going in here." He walked over to River and knelt down next to the couch.

"How are you doing, _Mei Mei_?" River closed her book and closed her eyes.

"I'm ok. She's keeping her distance to keep my head from the clouds. It's soothing."

"Have The Doctor and Martha left?" Inara asked. Drash nodded. River's eyes snapped open.

"Yes. I saw them go in. Mal and Jayne are a little antsy. I suspect we will have an hour or two before they find us a good place to land. Hopefully the ship will reach out to my father when he gets close enough and he can maneuver over towards it."

Break Break Break

_Ministry of Intelligence Headquarters, Londinium_

_Research Department_

Michael Tibbs was not happy. He had been assigned to supervise a special research project at the Ministry of Intelligence headquarters. He thought this was a promotion. However, six months later, this gorram shed has done nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even his superior had no idea what the _shee-niou_ shed was supposed to be doing. In three weeks, the five-year deadline on this shed was up and the funding will be gone. After that, who knows where he will be stationed? To top it off, the high ups want to do an inspection on his floor sometime in the next week and he would have to tell them about this _wúyòng de gŭdŏng_. He had to find a way to make it seem that the Alliance was not wasting money. This week, he ran every test he could think of on that shed to try and find something worth all the money being spent.

He scrambled around his desk and located the results thus far. They did a sample of the outside materials of the shed. The lab work indicated that every part of the outside could be found on Londinium. Perfect. Except that it was the opposite of perfect.

"If that's so, why can't we open it?" he grumbled. They tried everything to open that door. He filed the lab work into his folder for the inspection to prove that they were doing something at least. It was hard enough to even look at that shed most days. It gave him a headache. He went on to the next, only to be interrupted.

"Mr. Tibbs?" Ginny, his personal assistant knocked politely on his door before entering.

"Yes?" He asked.

"The inspectors are here." Michael cringed. He had a feeling about today. He stood up and followed Ginny as she led him to them.

"Inspectors? Don't we usually have only one?" They must really be second-guessing the validity of his research if they were sending multiples. He understood why his predecessor wanted off the project. It was giving him an ulcer.

"I asked them that, Sir. It seems one is new, so he is being trained by the other."

"That's great. Why get told we are incompetent by one inspector when we can have a brand new one get trained how to tell us we are incompetent?" He asked exasperatedly. Ginny sighed and they walked the rest of the way to the lobby in silence. She knew better than to deal with him in this mood.

She led him to a skinny brown-haired man in a suit and a dark skinned woman in some khaki trousers and a blouse. The man had a giant smile on his face as he shook Michael's hand. It was off-putting.

"Hello there! John Smith, Health and Safety. This here is Doctor Martha Jones. She's Health and I'm Safety." Dr. Jones smiled briefly before also shaking his hand.

"Michael Tibbs. I'm the supervisor of Project Tāo Tiè, which is located on our third floor. I'm the first one scheduled to take you through."

"Ah, and Project Tāo Tiè is?" Mr. Smith asked. Michael looked at him curiously. Weren't they briefed? He saw Dr. Jones elbow him. She came forward.

"We haven't been told what we are inspecting. The Alliance wanted John to go in blind and see what he finds. I'm going to be evaluating him based on what I see." Michael's eyes narrowed.

"Really? I've never heard of anybody else being trained that way."

"It's experimental. The last few inspectors haven't been doing very well. Have you met Pearson? Or Yang? Complete rubbish, they are. Honestly, they are giving us a bad name. I brought the idea to Dr. Jones that they test us blind and have us each complete a sight visit and compare. She brought it to her superior who decided to let us try it out. So, to make a long story short, here we are. Trying out new ideas to make us better. Isn't that what the Alliance is for?" Mr. Smith rambled. Michael gaped at him. Martha shook her head.

"Making a long story short is not a skill you possess, John."

"Well…ok then. If you both will follow me, I'll tell you about it as we make our way." He led them to the elevator and pressed 3.

"Project Tāo Tiè is a research project in its fifth year. We've made significant discoveries in the six months since I've taken the lead position, but it hasn't given us any positive results thus far."

"So, after five years this project has shown no progress at all." Mr. Smith said as he jotted notes on his clipboard. Michael straightened subtly.

"I wouldn't go that far. We've learned quite a lot about the subject. Just not what we have originally been looking for." The elevator doors opened and they walked through a narrow hallway. Michael led them through to his office, which was located right next to the lab. As he beckoned them in, he noticed Mr. Smith raise his head suddenly and look at the southeast corner of his office. There was nothing significant about that corner, but he smiled and turned his head again to look at Dr. Jones. Dr. Jones gave him a questioning look before nudging Mr. Smith back towards Michael. What a strange pair they were.

"Tell us about the subject." Mr. Smith said as he and Dr. Jones took their seats. Michael sat down at his desk and gave them a curious look.

"Nobody told you? Seriously?" He asked. They both shook their heads. Michael grabbed his folder and then laughed at the absurdness of it all. Why did he have to tell these people about his dead end project? It was bad enough to talk about it around people who knew. He opened his folder and grabbed the holographic photograph. He pushed it over to them.

"It's a shed." The inspectors glanced at the photograph and then looked back at him.

"A shed? You're doing research on some citizen's shed? Oh, sorry John. I'm supposed to let you take the lead here." Dr. Jones exclaimed. Mr. Smith just kept looking at the shed. Michael pushed over his entire folder. Mr. Smith grabbed it and started flipping through. He stopped for a moment to grab a pair of spectacles out of his suit and then continued.

"It's a shed that just appeared out of nowhere and nobody can open it. Every test we've run has shown that it's just a shed. What we can't figure out is why we can't get in it and all we have to go on is some lunatic's testimony." Mr. Smith looked up at this.

"What's the testimony?"

"He swore that he saw the inside. That it was 'alien stuff.' He told the authorities that there were two aliens building something in the shed to destroy us all. When asked why he thought they were aliens, his response was that they were speaking in tongues and one was talking in his mind. That was when we realized that he was crazy. They took the shed just in case. Nobody seemed to care that we took it. We wanted to talk to the so-called aliens but the man was never able to give us a description."

"Well, that's something you don't hear everyday, hey?" Mr. Smith gave Michael a strained smile. He quickly looked through the rest of the paperwork.

"This all appears in order. Can we see the shed?" He asked.

"Of course. My laboratory is room 355, which is next door." They made their way out of his office and smiled at Ginny as they left.

"What will happen if this project is shut down?" Mr. Smith asked.

"Since nobody has claimed the shed, it cannot be returned to its owner. It's quite small, but we cannot prove that it is not dangerous. It will most likely be destroyed off-world." Michael stated. They stopped in front of the door marked 355-Authorized Personnel Only. Michael put his hand on the scanner and unlocked the door.

"After you." He let them enter first. It was quite a large lab. The shed was sitting in the center of the room with many sensors and other equipment around it. Otherwise, it was empty. The staff had been sent home for the day. Mr. Smith seemed to be in awe of his setup. He walked around the shed and touched one of the walls. He didn't go near the door. Dr. Jones went down the hall after being given directions to the restroom. Michael went over to one of the computers in the room and drew up the files needed for the inspection.

"The lab work stated that it's made from materials found here?" Mr. Smith asked. Michael nodded absentmindedly.

"Well, that's brilliant! I mean, not for you lot trying to figure out what it is, but it's genius!"

"Were my job not on the line, I would agree with you." Michael stated. Having pulled up all of the necessary files, he got out of the chair and beckoned the inspector over. Mr. Smith kept staring at the shed with a smile on his face. Michael frowned.

"Wouldn't you like to continue your inspection of our facilities?"

"Inspection? Right! Yes, of course. Sorry, it's just that I can't stop looking at it." Mr. Smith came over to the computer. He looked over a few of the files while looking around the room suspiciously. Nothing seemed to come of it, though. Dr. Jones came back and winked at Mr. Smith.

"How does everything look, John?" Dr. Jones asked. Mr. Smith had a big grin. Michael felt a little like an outsider. It's a feeling he's never had in his own lab before. It was almost like they had an inside joke about his project. He didn't blame them, but a little decorum would have been appreciated. Mr. Smith dragged back his chair and practically leapt out of it.

"Everything here looks to be in order. How about we move on?" He turned and asked Michael. Michael's frown deepened. That was very quick for an inspection. Almost too quick.

"If that's what you want," he forced out. They were going to shut down his research early. He knew it.

He led them out of the lab without a word. He had to get them to sign a few forms in his office while it was still his office. Then he could send them on to the medical ward so they could give them all the money they were saving by shutting him down. When they got back to his office, Ginny waved him over to her desk anxiously.

"Sir! There was an important call for you. I took the message." She handed him a slip of paper. Michael read it and frowned. Even more bad news.

"Is something the matter?" Mr. Smith asked. He and Dr. Jones shared a look. Michael forced a smile on his face. As hard as he tried, it looked more like a grimace than a smile.

"Oh, it's nothing to concern yourselves about. It seems one of our sponsors, the Blue Sun Corporation, is sending someone to inspect our floor as well. They should be here…soon." He checked his watch.

"Is this the right time, Ginny? That's in less than an hour." He asked. Ginny nodded.

"Is that common? To have two inspections in one day?" Dr. Jones asked.

"Not really, but this project is getting close to its deadline. I'm sure it's just a formality for Blue Sun to have someone see each project they fund. They haven't had a sight visit here yet. So, why don't you come inside and we will get you both on your way?" He beckoned them into the office. He was going to miss this office. Before walking inside, something stopped him. He heard a strange noise. It was some kind of grinding noise and it was coming from his lab. Then, there were some buzzing noises coming from the sensors. Something was happening! He bounded towards the lab. Dr. Jones and Mr. Smith seemed to have heard it too, as they were right behind him.

When they got into the lab, there was another building next to the shed. A blue…police box? He scratched his head and contemplated insanity before noticing that the two inspectors who came in with him were approaching the box. A man came out wearing a red shirt and a brown coat. He had a look of danger to him. Before he could utter a word, the man pulled out his gun and pistol-whipped him, lending him unconscious.


End file.
